European shares end higher, led by autos

European shares rose in thin trade today, led by carmakers after bullish broker comment buoyed the sector, as investors shrugged aside Standard & Poor's downgrade of nine euro zone countries and fresh worries about an unruly default in Greece.

Carmakers were the best performers, with the STOXX Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts index up 3.1 percent after positive broker comment by Goldman Sachs gave support to the sector.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally closed up 0.8 percent at 1,025.64 points in low volume.

Sellers, however, came for Carnival which dropped 16.5 percent in strong volume after the owner of the cruise ship that capsized off Italy's west coast on Friday said it would take a $90 million hit from the accident.

Japan's Nikkei average fell to a one-month closing low also after the downgrade of nine European countries. The benchmark Nikkei fell 1.4% to 8,378.36, back below its 25-day moving average near 8,467 after closing above the technical level on Friday. The broader Topix fell 1.3% to 725.24.