European shares fell in early trading on Monday, retreating after an opinion poll showed supporters of Scottish independence from Britain taking the lead for the first time since the referendum campaign began, Reuters reported.
Shares in Scottish-based banks featured among the biggest losers, with Lloyds Banking Group down 2.2 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland down 2.7 percent.
At 0755 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.4 percent at 1,390.61 points. Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index was down 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 down 0.1 percent.
Germany's DAX bucked the trend, up 0.3 percent. The country posted on Monday a record trade surplus of 22.2 billion euros for July, suggesting it could bounce back strongly in the third quarter after suffering a surprise contraction in the second.
Sweden's Electrolux jumped 6.9 percent after it said on Monday it would buy General Electric Co's appliances business for $3.3 billion in cash to double sales in North America and take on rival Whirlpool Corp.
The FTSEurofirst 300 gained 1.6 percent last week, boosted by a surprise interest rate cut by the European Central Bank which also launched new measures to support the euro zone economy.