European stocks ended a choppy session in negative territory on Monday, with banking stocks leading the charge lower as shares of Swiss private banking group Julius Baer Gruppe AG were rocked by the sudden resignation of its chief executive, effective immediately. Oil stocks were also weighing on sentiment, as they tracked a slide in oil prices ahead of the closely watched OPEC meeting on Thursday.

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Monday after touching intraday records as an early rally in retail shares largely fizzled. However, the blue-chip Dow bucked the weak trend to eke out a gain.

Asia-Pacific stocks mirrored modest overnight declines in Europe and the U.S., though Japanese equities turned higher thanks to a pullback in the yen. Ahead of a busy set of events in the coming days - including a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and key economic reports - market participants have been cautious about placing big bets.