Global stocks stuttered on Thursday at the end of a tough month as unease over Europe's crisis and a run of weaker than anticipated U.S. economic data kept market sentiment in check.

Over the past month, the financial and political problems afflicting Greece, Spain and the 17-country eurozone as a whole have weighed heavily on world markets. U.S. stocks are set to suffer their first negative month since last summer, oil prices have slid and the euro has fallen to a near two-year low against the dollar.

European indexes struggled to hold onto gains on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closing up only 0.2 percent at 5,306.95. Germany's DAX ended 0.3 percent lower at 6,264.38 while the CAC-40 in France closed less than 0.1 percent higher at 3,017.01.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.3 percent to 12,384 while the broader S&P 500 index was 0.6 percent lower at 1,306.