European and US stocks fell with Spanish and Italian bonds as the region's finance ministers prepared to meet to discuss aid to Cyprus and Greece.

The yen weakened and natural gas led commodities lower.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.3 per cent, trimming this year's gain to 2.4 per cent. Novo Nordisk plunged the most in almost four years after failing to win US approval for a new insulin. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.1 per cent.

Italy's 10-year bond yield rose three basis points to 4.59 per cent, approaching a two-month high. The yen weakened against 15 of its major peers, falling 0.7 per cent versus the euro. Natural gas, gasoline, copper and soybeans lost more than 1 per cent.

European finance chiefs were set to meet in Brussels today as a tightening election contest in Italy and corruption allegations in Spain threaten to reignite the region's debt crisis.

Bloomberg