European shares climbed on Monday, as an EU Parliament election showed Europhile parties still performing reasonably well despite a rise in support for nationalists.

Germany's DAX closed about 0.5% higher while France's CAC climbed 0.3%. Italy's FTSE MIB jumped 0.6% initially, but fell into negative territory during the afternoon session after a report Brussels is considering disciplinary action over Rome's failure to rein in public debt.

Markets in the U.K. and U.S. were closed Monday, meaning trading volumes were low.

Investors in Europe were largely focused on results of the EU parliamentary elections. Results showed a strong showing for Liberal and Green parties, while euroskeptic groups in Britain and France held the gains they saw in 2014.

Pro-EU parties are still expected to make up the majority of the Parliament, however, holding on to about two-thirds of the seats. Right-wing populist parties in both the U.K. and France made solid gains, with Nigel Farage's Brexit Party comfortably beating Britain's two main parties and Marine Le Pen's National Rally narrowly beating President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party.

The euro lost some ground against the dollar on Monday afternoon, trading just below $1.12 and trimming its earlier gains.