Investing.com - European stocks remained lower on Monday, as worries over ongoing tensions in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip continued to weigh on global equity markets.
During European afternoon trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.45%, France’s CAC 40 slid 0.39%, while Germany’s DAX retreated 0.83%.
Investors remained cautious after the downing of a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine last week and ongoing fighting in Gaza continued to dominate market attention.
On Monday, some 100 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers had been killed in a nearly two-week military offensive in the Gaza strip.
Meanwhile, monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were granted limited access to the crash site in Ukraine on Saturday, a day after the organization complained "visibly intoxicated" gunmen blocked their way to the site.
Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as French lenders Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) and BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) tumbled 1.59% and 0.85%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) plummeted 1.46%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) lost 1.32% and 1.83% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) declined 0.56% and 0.95%.
Airbus Group (PARIS:AIR) extended losses, down 1.09%, even after saying it could sell 100 or more of its newly launched A330neo planes at this week's Farnborough International Airshow.
Elsewhere, Philips (AMS:PHG) slipped 0.21%, erasing earlier gains, after the electrical goods producer reported a drop in second-quarter earnings but said it expects to see an improvement in the second half of the year.
In London, FTSE 100 slid 0.34%, as U.K. lenders still tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) dipped 0.05% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) fell 0.20%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) retreated 0.65% and 1.04% respectively.
Mining stocks turned higher on the other hand, as Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) rose 0.20% and Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) added 0.22%, while Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) gained 0.40%.
Meanwhile, Tesco (LONDON:TSCO) continued to lead gains on the index with shares surging 2.15% as the grocer chose to replace Chief Executive Officer Philip Clarke after the company's first-half profit came in below expectations.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a mostly lower open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.11% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.10% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.01% uptick.