By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Greece's Athex Composite falls nearly 4%

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets slipped Monday, with investors striking a cautious tone as eurozone finance ministers took another stab at ending the standoff between Greece and its lenders.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index edged down 0.1% to 375.55, pulling back after posting a 1% gain last week. Greece's Athex Composite index slumped 3.8% to 859.70, with banks posting the biggest slides. National Bank of Greece SA and Piraeus Bank SA each tumbled 12%, and Alpha Bank AE dropped 8.9%.

Greece remained in the spotlight as Eurogroup finance ministers met in Brussels to discuss the new Greek government's demand to change the terms of its bailout program. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has refused to ask for an extension of the current rescue plan -- which expires at the end of the month -- unless Greece's lenders agree to greater leniency on debt repayments and on austerity measures. Earlier negotiations ended in a deadlock, raising fears that Greece could end up leaving the eurozone, a move that could unnerve financial markets.

Read: 5 things you need to know about the Greek debt showdown

Eurozone finance ministers on Monday continued to turn up the pressure, saying little progress had been made in talks over the weekend and that a deal at Monday's meeting is unlikely.

"Time and money are running out for Greece. A subtle change in tone in Athens suggests that the new Greek government has started to notice," economists at Berenberg said in a note.

"But whether Prime Minister Tsipras has really grasped how close he has already pushed Greece to the abyss of wholesale financial crisis, recession and 'Grexit', and whether he is ready to perform the inevitable U-turn to avoid that fate, remains a very open question."

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said over the weekend he believes a deal will be reached at the 11th hour.

Other markets: Germany's DAX 30 index ended lower by 0.4% at 10,923.23, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index shed 0.2% to 6,857.05 . France's CAC 40 index turned lower, falling nearly 3 points to 4,756.60.

The euro (EURUSD) traded at $1.1389 compared with $1.1391 late Friday. See Currencies column.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.

Movers: Total SA fell 0.6% as Credit Suisse cut the oil giant to neutral from outperform.

Airbus Group NV added 1.4% as Credit Suisse lifted the plane maker to outperform from underperform.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires