Shares in Europe edged lower early Monday, with bank and auto stocks leading the decliners, amid sovereign concerns in the Euro-zone region, which were further accentuated by the arrest of the chief of IMF Dominique-Kahn Strauss over charges of sexual assault.
At 12:45 p.m. (I.S.T.), France's CAC and Germany's DAX dropped 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively, while Britain's FTSE was off 0.2%.
In sector movers, auto stocks BMW, Renault and Daimler lost 1% to 1.5%, while miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Anglo American bucked the negative trend to trade 0.2% to 0.5% higher.
Among financials, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale erased 1.3% to 2%.
In news-driven stocks, miner Kazaksmys jumped 1% after saying it would also list its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange.