Investing.com - European stocks closed mostly lower Monday, after trading higher for much of the session, as investors turned bearish ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers, amid ongoing uncertainty over whether Greece will receive its next tranche of financial aid.
At the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.35%, while Germany’s DAX 30 fought the trend by rising 0.07%.
On Sunday, Greece’s government approved a budget of spending cuts and tax increases for next year, just days after the parliament narrowly approved a EUR13.5 billion austerity package required to secure the country’s next installment of financial aid.
However, markets were jittery as euro zone finance ministers were meet in Brussels later in the day to discuss whether to release a new tranche of funding to Greece.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told a German newspaper on Sunday that the troika of international lenders to Athens was unlikely to deliver its full report in time for Monday's meeting.
Financial stocks turned mixed, as French lenders Societe Generale and BNP Paribas saw shares climb 0.53% and 0.51%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank dropped 0.54%.
Peripheral lenders were broadly lower. Shares in Italian banks Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo retreated 0.12% and 0.83%, while Spain's BBVA ans Banco Santander tumbled 0.99% and 1.27%.
On the upside, Telecom Italia SpA surged 5.64% amid reports Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris offered to purchase a stake in the company.
In London, FTSE 100 rose 0.38%, supported by sharp gains in financial stocks.
Shares in HSBC Holdings rose 0.31% and Barlays climbed 0.65%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking surged 1.33% and 3.07% respectively.
Mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also turned higher, ading 0.10% and 0.22%, while copper producer Xstrata remained on the downside, with shares dropping 0.71%.
Elsewhere, the world’s largest maker of airborne-refueling equipment, Cobham dove 7.82% after saying "organic" revenue will decline in 2013.
In the U.S., equity markets followed lower with the Dow Jones off 0.07%, the broad based S&P 500 slipped 0.18% while the tech heavy Nasdaq fell 0.07%
Later Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to travel to Lisbon to hold talks with Portuguese political leaders, amid public opposition to the country’s austerity cuts.