European shares ended slightly lower on Monday after struggling for direction amid lingering worries about growth and with US markets closed for a holiday, although oil giant BP managed to gain ground.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2% to close at 236.88, after dipping in and out of positive territory through the session in a similar performance to Friday's session.
The index lost 4.5% last week after data fuelled worries about global economic growth.
Miners fell on Monday, with Rio Tinto shares down 1.8% and Antofagasta shares off 2.1%.
Of the benchmark regional indexes, the German DAX index fell 0.3% to close at 5,816.20. The UK FTSE 100 index ended 0.3% lower at 4,823.53, while the French CAC-40 index declined 0.5% to finish at 3,332.46.
Exporters gained ground in Europe, including aircraft maker EADS, which rose 2.4%, while carmaker BMW rose 0.6%.
Meanwhile, oil giant BP was a standout, rising 3.5%. A newspaper reported, without citing sources, that the firm has launched a search for a strategic investor to help secure its independence. On Monday, Shokri Ghanem, Chairman of Libya's Nation Oil Co., said that he will recommend buying a stake in BP to the Libyan Investment Authority to take advantage of the firm's weak share price. BP's shares have plunged since April 20 when an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig triggered a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, BP put the cost of its response to the spill at $3.12bn.
Asian markets ended mixed on Monday, with Chinese stocks dragged lower by worries of economic slowdown, while Japanese consumer finance firms were buoyed by hopes for relaxed lending laws.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.8%, ending at its lowest level since April 8, 2009, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3%.
New Zealand shares ended slightly higher as investors shrugged off weak offshore leads, although trading remained extremely light, largely due to the US holiday weekend. The benchmark NZX-50 ended up 0.3%, or 9.235 points, at 2,947.34.
Base metals on the LME finished mixed. Aluminium remained unchanged at $1,940 while copper rose $30 (0.47%) to $6,480 and nickel fell $175 (0.92%) to $18,750. Zinc firmed $20 (1.11%) to $1,815 and lead remained unchanged at $1,760. Comex copper was last quoted at 292.40 US cents per pound.
Spot gold was last quoted at $1,207.95. Comex gold futures remained unchanged at $1,207.70. Spot silver was last quoted at $17.76.
West Texas Intermediate was last quoted at US$72.14 per barrel.
At 07:45 a.m. (AET) the US dollar was quoted at 0.7976 euros, 87.74 yen 1.192 AUD and 66.07 pence.