Europe's main stock benchmark closed slightly higher Monday, with Syngenta helping to lead the way up after clearing a regulatory hurdle in its takeover deal.

Exporters also got a lift from a lower euro, but a drop in oil prices weighed on commodity-related stocks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.09% inched up 0.1% to finish at 340.43, stabilizing a little after last week's loss of 1.7%.

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Monday as oil futures snapped a seven-session win streak to finish sharply in negative territory. Losses in West Texas Intermediate oil trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange for September delivery CLU6, -3.52% pushed the contract down 3% at $47.05 a barrel. The October contract CLV6, -1.35% is now WTI's front-month contract. Energy shares on the S&P 500 followed oil's lead, falling 0.9%--suffering the worst drop among the S&P 500's 10 sectors. Overall, the large-cap benchmark SPX, -0.06% ended about a point lower at 2,182, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.12% closed off 23 points, or 0.1% , at 18,529, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.12% edged 0.1% higher at 5,244. Thin trading and reluctance to make big bets ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Friday, made for muted trading action. In merger news, Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.40% confirmed plans to buy biotech firm Medivation Inc. MDVN, +19.74% in a deal valued at $14 billion.

Asia shares inched ahead while oil fell for a second session on Tuesday, as investors awaited guidance on whether the Federal Reserve will raise U.S. interest rates this year.

Japan's Nikkei .N225 went the other way and eased 0.2 percent as the yen held firm on the dollar.

A survey of Japanese manufacturing activity showed signs of steadying in August as output rose for the first time in six months, but had little impact on stocks.