Europe close: Stocks end on a mixed note
Stocks on the Continent finished on a mixed note on Thursday following the release of stronger-than-expected readings on monthly private sector US payrolls and weekly jobless claims.
In the opinion of IG chief market analyst, Chris Beauchamp: "those better-than-expected readings on the US jobs market were forcing some investors to rejig their holdings away from so-called 'growth' stocks to 'value' ones."
"Indices have looked wobbly for a few days, with the swift reversal from Tuesday’s peak showing that something was amiss with global risk appetite," he added.
Against that backdrop, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index drifted lower by 0.12% to 450.79 although the German Dax was up by 15,632.67.
Putting an extra bid into the Dax, euro/dollar ended the session at 1.2125, down by 0.7% on the day.
The FTSE Mibtel ended 0.29% higher to 25,452.33.
Also dampening the mood, The Daily Telegraph reported that the UK government had axed Portugal from its 'green list' of travel destinations after what were believed to be previously-unknown variants of Covid.
Nevertheless, there was some good news to be had on this side of the Pond.
IHS Markit’s final reading of May services sector activity in the euro area printed ahead of forecasts at 57.1, versus a preliminary reading of 56.9 and up significantly from April's print of 53.8.
Commenting on the implications of those survey results, economists at Barclays Research reiterated their forecast for euro area gross domestic product growth of 1.0% quarter-on-quarter over the three months to June and of 2.8% in the third quarter.
In equity news, discount retailer B&M European Value Retail fell after it warned 2022 UK revenues would be lower against tough comparatives as it reported better-than-expected annual profits.
UK telecoms company BT Group was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank, while Experian lost ground after a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.
French spirits group Remy Cointreau plummeted as it topped estimates for full-year operating profit growth with investors in turn relishing an 85% rise in dividends.
French construction materials group Saint-Gobain was up more than 4% after forecasting record operating income and margin in the first half of the year.