US stocks meanwhile inched a little higher, encouraged by President Donald Trump saying Washington could ease sanctions on Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE.
This soothed some investor nerves which had been rattled by fears of conflict over trade and new sanctions against Iran.
“Global trade uncertainty is festering but comments and developments pertaining to US and Chinese tensions are relatively positive,” said analysts at the Charles Schwab brokerage.
Across Europe, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to close at 7,710.98; Milan’s FTSE MIB was up 0.3% at 24,221, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was down 0.2% at 12,977.71, while Paris’ CAC 40 closed flat at 5,540.68.
In Italy, a deeply eurosceptic far-right party and an anti-establishment group are set to unveil later yesterday a coalition government agreement and name a new prime minister, following two months of political deadlock.
The leaders of the anti-immigrant League party and the Five Star Movement will meet the Italian president to share details of a government programme for the eurozone’s third largest economy.
Investors will be keeping a close eye on US-China trade discussions, with President Xi Jinping’s top economics official and Vice Premier Liu He visiting Washington.
Hopes that the two sides can avert a trade war were boosted on Sunday when US President Donald Trump said he was working with Xi to prevent telecom giant ZTE from going out of business after it was hit by a US sales ban.
The US leader tweeted that he had asked officials to come up with a rescue plan, saying too many jobs were at risk, seeming to offer an olive branch.
“Global trade tensions remain in focus but comments and developments regarding the US and Chinese relations appear to be fostering some cautious optimism,” Charles Schwab analysts said in a note.