European stocks remained at the highest level of about nine weeks due to Merkel'

European stock markets rose slightly on Monday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel succeeded in winning a fourth term in the election, but its conservative camp's support was drastically lost to the right-wing party.

Investors said the prospect of a coalition government in Europe's largest economy weakened the hope of political consolidation, but the outlook for Germany's economy remains strong.

"The European stock market will perform well in the next three to six months, especially if the euro is softening against the dollar," said Andrea Cuturi, chief investment officer at Anthilia Capital. "Overall, the market reaction is very disciplined.

The pan-European STOXX index closed up 0.2% to about nine weeks at the highest level, with the DAX index, which was slightly below the 10-week high on Friday.

The worst oil stocks so far this year rose 0.8%, helped by higher oil prices, Citigroup raised its oil stocks to "overweight".

Merck KGaA (MRCG.DE), Bayer (BAYGn.DE) and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) are the leading German DAX constituent stocks, but some auto and utility divisions RWE (RWEG .DE), as the German Greens are expected to join the new government.