European stocks climbed Monday, with a new milestone for German stocks highlighting the flood of money that’s been rushing into the market as the European Central Bank embarked on its massive asset-purchase program.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7% to 399.21, with only the utilities sector lagging other groups. Stocks found early support in part after the Chinese government over the week pledged to bolster economic growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-signals-fresh-moves-for-economy-2015-03-15-124854757).

Top advancers on the pan-European index included Balfour Beatty PLC , with shares of the U.K. construction and engineering services company rising 3.3% following a ratings upgrade to buy from underperform at Jefferies.

But near the bottom of the Stoxx 600 was cement maker Lafarge SA . Its shares dropped 4.5% after Holcim Ltd’s board rejected terms (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/holcim-board-rejects-terms-of-proposed-4427-billion-larfarge-merger-2015-03-16)of a proposed EUR42 billion ($44.27 billion) merger with Lafarge. Holcim shares were off 1.1%.

Contributing to the gain on the Stoxx 600 were German shares, with the benchmark DAX 30 jumping 1% to 12,023.37, the first time the index has risen above 12,000. Commerzbank AG climbed 2% and Siemens AG tacked on 1.6% after the company over the weekend won a power-plant deal from the Egyptian government.

France’s CAC 40 leapt 0.8% to 5,051.56. On Friday, it notched its first close above 5,000 since May 2008.

The Stoxx 600 itself was moving toward closing above the 400 mark for the first time since June 2007. It’s also closing in on its record high of 405.50 that it reached in March 2000, according to FactSet data. Why investors love Europe and don’t think it’s a crowded trade (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-investors-love-europe-and-dont-think-its-a-crowded-trade-2015-03-13).

Last week, for the eighth week running, European equity funds attracted the biggest inflows among the major global developed markets “as the European Central Bank’s quantitative-easing program kicked off,” said data tracker EPFR in a note Friday. Flows into Europe equity funds surpassed $5 billion for the fourth time in the past seven weeks, and European bond funds logged their biggest inflow since the middle of the second quarter in 2013, said EPFR.

The ECB last week started buying EUR60 billion a month in eurozone government bonds and other debt assets as part of its effort to spur inflation and encourage economic growth.

Analysts have said a slide in the euro (EURUSD) has aided shares of exporters as their goods are becoming less expensive for their overseas clients.

Elsewhere on Monday, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) moved up 0.5% to 6,773.42.

Greece’s Athex Composite underperformed, falling 2.3% to 752.20. The Hellenic nation was expected to make its next loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund on Monday, with the payment due as the country moves closer to running out of cash at the end of the month.