London - European shares fell on Monday, with Germany's DAX and France's CAC on track for their worst month in four years, plagued by sliding Chinese stocks and the threat of a US rate increase as early as September.
At 09:06, the DAX, the CAC and the eurozone's Euro STOXX 50 were down 0.5% to 0.6%. Volumes were likely to be thin with UK markets closed for a public holiday.
The Euro STOXX 50, the DAX and the CAC, all down about 9% in August so far, were set to record their worst monthly performance in percentage terms in four years.
The Fed left open on Friday the possibility of a September interest rate increase, although several officials at the US central bank acknowledged that prolonged turmoil in financial markets might delay the first policy tightening in nearly a decade.
Shanghai stocks, which have plunged more than 40% since mid-June, were down about 1%, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.4% and was on track for a fall of about 10% this month.