European shares opened slightly lower today, with profit-taking expected to keep trade jittery on the last day of May, but with a key index still on track for its 12th consecutive monthly gain.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.1 per cent at 1,226.30 points earlier, heading for a monthly gain of 2 percent despite steep falls earlier this week. "On balance, I think we are stabilising now," said Peter Garnry, strategist at Saxo Bank.

"I still think if we look in the medium term, the momentum in equities is still in tact, valuations are still benign and there is still an interest to get exposure to equities. For this momentum to stop it would require some kind of a political or market hiccup in Europe. "

Investors awaited the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s May consumer sentiment index due later, as well as personal income and consumption data, due this afternoon.