LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - European stock markets rose on Monday, propped up by gains in the shares of major banks, while Dutch postal service operator PostNL surged after its results.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 percent, with banks adding the most points to European stock markets.
The STOXX Europe 600 Bank index advanced 1 percent, helped by a 2.8 percent rise at Barclays after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Barclays to "outperform" from "neutral.
PostNL shares rose 8.8 percent, the top performer on the STOXX 600 index, after its second-quarter results were well-received by investors, with the company confirming its full-year outlook.
However, Airbus shares fell 1.7 percent after Britain's Serious Fraud Office launched a formal investigation into suspected fraud, bribery and corruption in connection with commercial plane sales by Airbus.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Vikram Subhedar)