European stocks failed to sustain modest early gains on Monday, finishing a choppy session with a slightly loss. Volumes remained thin owing to a holiday in the U.K.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chippers was down 0.18 percent.
The German DAX was down 0.04 percent, the CAC 40 index lost 0.21 percent and Switzerland's SMI shed 0.29 percent. The UK market is closed for the Spring holiday.
Adidas picked up 1.2 percent. The sports goods giant said it is on track to achieve its goals for 2012 London Olympics.
Utilities RWE and E.ON were down notably after reports said the country would close its nuclear reactors by 2022, following the quake and the related events in Japan that led to the damage of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.
Solar power companies Vestas and Renewable Energy rallied on the news.
Fiat rose 1.3 percent after announcing that it will exercise an option to buy the United States Department of Treasury's 6% stake in Chrysler Group LLC in the next 10 days.
In Paris, machinery maker Alstom rose 1.3 percent. The company announced a contract worth 665 million euros with the Polish operator PKP Intercity to supply 20 high speed trains, their maintenance up to 17 years and the construction of a new maintenance depot.
Drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis announced a three-year research collaboration agreement with Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative or DNDi, an independent, not-for-profit product development partnership. Sanofi added 0.11 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets ended mostly lower. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 0.30 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.14 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 retreated 0.18 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, however, added 0.29 percent.
The U.S. markets are closed for Memorial Day. In the previous session, the Dow rose 0.3 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com