European stocks were in negative territory on Monday as G7 leaders met to discuss action on Syria

LONDON ' European stocks had a negative start to the week on Monday with investors remaining on edge as G7 leaders met in Italy to discuss sanctions against Russia for its role in the Syrian conflict.London's FTSE 100 closed in negative territory, although losses were limited, with several other bourses also down at 16.30 p.m. BST (11.30 a.m. ET).Foreign ministers from the G7 countries met in Lucca, Italy on Monday for a meeting which was dominated by discussions relating to last week's chemical attack in Syria and the United States' military response, with participants pushing for Russia ' which is not a G7 member ' to end its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.The summary:The FTSE 100 was down by 0.07%.The largest gains on the index included and Primark-owner Associated Foods Group, up 3.78% on reports that it has started a hunt for a new chairman, and pharmaceuticals firm Hikma, up 3.29%, which was boosted by a "Buy" upgrade.The biggest fallers were precious metal miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources, down 2.52% and 2.43% respectively, both hampered by a fall in gold prices.The chart below shows the FTSE's moves on Monday:The biggest index losers were Spain's benchmark IBEX 35, down 0.87% as of 16.40 p.m. GMT (11.40 a.m. ET), and France's CAC, down 0.54% at the same time, with a handful of smaller indexes gaining ground.Here is the scoreboard for the rest of the continent:Elsewhere in the markets, oil prices jumped higher on Mondayfollowing the shutdown of Libya's largest oil field and continuing uncertainty over the U.S. airstrike on oil-rich Syria.Join the conversation about this story
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