US stocks fell as an unexpected fall in business activity in the US Midwest sparked worries about the pace of economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 29.92 points, or 0.31 percent, to 9,712.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 3.53 points, or 0.33 percent, at 1,057.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.62 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,122.42.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 0.5 percent down at 997,56 points. It has risen 21 percent this year, 56 percent from a record low in March and 18.4 percent in the July-September period -- its best quarter in almost a decade.

Japan's Nikkei average edged up 0.3 percent in cautious trade, with investors hesitant to actively take positions ahead of a series of economic data releases and at the end of Japan's fiscal half-year.

The benchmark Nikkei rose 33.03 points to 10,133.23. It climbed 1.8 percent in the July-September quarter, after surging nearly 23 percent in April-June.

The broader Topix rose 0.7 percent to 909.84.