European shares dipped in wafer-thin dealings yesterday, as a dearth of corporate news and economic indicators left investors rudderless ahead of key US data and the Republican Party Convention.
A sour mood also descended on Wall Street, and a slide in crude oil prices failed to lift it.
On a more positive note, shares in Interbrew rose two per cent to €26 after it appointed a new chief financial officer for InBev, the world's biggest brewer created from Interbrew's merger with Brazilian peer AmBev.
And Sanofi-Aventis shares outperformed the market after the Franco-German drugmaker unveiled a clinical study showing its anti-obesity drug Acomplia succeeded in helping people lose weight, which could boost future sales.
Shares in the world's third-largest drugmaker were up 0.7 per cent at €59.
German utility E.ON was Europe's top blue-chip gainer, up 0.5 per cent at €58.8, with dealers citing a stock upgrade to "overweight" by Lehman Brothers investment bank.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index ended down 0.15 per cent at 980.06 points, ending a three-session run-up to Friday's three-week high. Volume was barely a quarter of its daily average, as London, Europe's biggest share market, was shut for a holiday.
The index rose three per cent last week when a fall in crude oil prices encouraged investors back into shares, which had touched new 2004 lows the week before.
However, yesterday, a late session slide in US light crude, which sank four per cent to $41.30, its weakest level since late last month, had little impact on the broader stock market.
Oil groups, which had been higher before the crude slide, were equally unaffected and held on to their gains. France's Total and Italy's ENI both closed modestly higher.
Investors in crude oil took profits after the recent run-up to record highs of just below $50 a barrel, and producer group Opec eyed increases in coming months.
Strategists said falls in crude and supportive economic data, especially the US non-farm payrolls figures due on Friday, may lure investors back to shares.
"Only if the picture becomes clear that economic growth won't collapse and if oil prices continue to fall, then the markets can reach new heights," said Bernd Meyer, European equity strategist at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.