Europe close: Stocks end quarter sharply higher but on a down note
European shares were still under pressure on the last day of the quarter with investor sentiment weighed down by increases in case numbers of the Covid-19 Delta variant globally and after soft survey data released overnight in China.
A better-than-expected increase of 692,000 in US private sector payrolls for the month of June however helped buoy sentiment.
"Indeed, today’s report still fell into the Goldilocks category, since it is moving in the right direction, but not at an overly-speedy pace, which explains the positive reaction from US stocks in early trading," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the day down by 0.77% to 452.84, alongside a 1.02% drop for the German Dax to 15,531.04, while the FTSE Mibtel was down 1.01% to 25,102.04.
All those benchmarks sharply higher for the quarter, although for June alone Spain's Ibex 35 and the FTSE Mib finished down by roughly 4% and 1%, respectively.
Travel stocks found a bid following several sessions of selling pressure.
Economists at Berenberg stood by their stronger than consensus GDP forecasts for the UK and euro area in 2021 and 2022, telling clients that the current wave of infections would not require "serious new" restrictions.
The latest economic data out of the euro area printed was also largely upbeat, although a reading on China's services sector released overnight acted as an offset.
German unemployment claims declined by 38,000 in June, nearly doubling economists' forecasts, while in France, May household consumption - outside of services - jumped by 10.4% month-on-month (consensus: 7.5%).
Across the world on the other hand, in China, the official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index dropped from the 55.2 point level for May to 53.5 in June (consensus: 55.3), confirming some economists' wariness of a possible mid-year slowdown.
To take note of, some analysts expressed concern on Wednesday regarding the potential for sharp CPI increases across the euro area over the next few months as economies tried to reopen.