The European markets were trading lower on Monday, following the strong advances made in the previous session, as investors decided to take some profit off the table, ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
EU leaders have asked Greece to come up with a more concrete reform plan in the coming days so that bailout talks can speed up. Angela Merkel will receive her Greek counterpart in Berlin today.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was losing 0.87 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was falling 0.85 percent.
The German DAX declined 1.4 percent and the French CAC 40 dropped 0.9 percent. The FTSE 100 index of the U.K. and Switzerland's SMI dropped around 0.3 percent each.
In Frankfurt, Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW declined between 3 percent and 2.4 percent.
Adidas dropped 2.4 percent and K+S fell 2.2 percent.
HeidelbergCement retreated 1.6 percent. Credit Suisse re-initiated the stock with an "Underperform" rating.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank gained 1.2 percent and Commerzbank added moderately.
In Paris, luxury group LVMH fell 2.6 percent and auto parts maker Valeo slipped 2 percent.
Renault was losing 1.8 percent and Peugeot was sliding around 2 percent.
Bucking the trend, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas added 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Societe Generale was up around 1 percent.
In London, Burberry Group and Carnival were losing 2.7 percent each.
Standard Chartered gained nearly 5 percent. Citigroup raised its price target on the lender to 1300 pence from 1250 pence.
Centamin surged nearly 15 percent after the gold miner declared a higher final dividend, compared to its maiden interim dividend.
The Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday. While the Chinese and Japanese markets hit fresh multi-year highs, Australian shares succumbed to profit taking after sharp gains last week.
In the U.S., futures point to a cautious open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks rose notably as oil prices rebounded. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose about 0.9 percent each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.7 percent to close at its highest level in 15 years.
Crude for May delivery fell $1.01 to $45.56 per barrel, while April gold slipped $4.3 to $1180.3 a troy ounce.
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