European stocks mostly declined after stock prices of Spanish and Italian banks.

Investors remain cautious after the tragic events that occurred on Monday, while the trading volume are reduced on the eve of holidays.

Market sentiment deteriorated after Monday night Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead in an art gallery in the capital, Ankara.

A few hours later in a Christmas fair in the center of Berlin a truck crashed, killing 12 people and wounding about 50. Could be a terrorist act.

At the same time, the indices are near the highs of more than 11 months as companies active in the field of mergers and acquisitions continues to provide support to the market.

The composite index of the largest companies in the region Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0,2%, to 360.74 points.

Shares of Banco de Sabadell SA and CaixaBank fell by 3% and 3.5%.

Securities of the Italian Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena fell 17% amid fears that the bank will not be able to bring the 5 billion euros needed. Trading was suspended.

Volkswagen shares jumped 1% after the German automaker confirmed the willingness to pay an additional $ 1 billion to settle claims by the US after the emisions scandal.

At the moment:

FTSE 7039.34 -4.62 -0.07%

DAX 11468.05 3.31 0.03%

CAC 4832.32 -17.57 -0.36%