Europe's main stock markets fell yesterday, dragged down by Wall Street despite upbeat US economic data as investors locked in profits from and a three-month surge seemed to fizzle, dealers said.
"There is simply not enough positive news flow to fuel sentiment," said David Jones, a strategist at IG Index, commenting on London trading.
"After a 30 per cent bounce back off the year's lows (in recent months), investors are struggling to see much upside, particularly with the prospect of the usually quiet summer period around the corner."
London's FTSE 100 index closed 0.27 per cent lower at 4,241.01 points. In Paris the CAC 40 index fell 1.05 per cent to close at 3,129.73 points and Frankfurt's Dax fell 0.50 per cent to 4,776.47 points.
"It is clear that the upbeat outlook that powered the FTSE from the 3,500 mark in March to above 4,500 in early May has gone for the moment," Mr Jones said.
In Paris, investors were "correcting the 30 per cent rise in three months," said strategist Jean-Louis Mourier of stockbrokers Aurel BGC. "The correction is not finished," he added.
On the foreign exchange market, the European single currency advanced to $1.4054.
Swiss mining group Xstrata bucked the trend in London, gaining 2.52 per cent. It is trying to convince rival Anglo American to merge with it, citing potential annual benefits of more than $1.0 billion.
London-based Anglo American, a British-South African group, on Monday rejected the merger proposal. Its shares fell 1.47 per cent yesterday, while its rival Rio Tinto lost 0.96 per cent and BHP Billiton 0.70 per cent.
British Airways rose 2.13 per cent after announcements of pay cuts on Thursday. Japanese shares had climbed for a third straight day yesterday, tracking the previous day's gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 0.83 per cent to end at 9,877.39 points.
US stocks fell as investors took profits and digested largely positive government data on personal income and spending.
On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.64 per cent to 8,418.44 in early trade after posting on Thursday its first triple-digit gain since June 1.
US consumer spending posted a modest gain in May, government data showed yesterday, suggesting recovery in a key driver of the recession-mired economy. Elswehere in Europe, Milan's Mib fell 0.58 per cent to 18,832 points and Brussels' Bel-20 fell 0.12 per cent to 2,013.32.
The Swiss Market Index rose 0.27 per cent to 5,375.99 points, Amsterdam's AEX 0.12 per cent to 254.43 points and Madrid's Ibex-35 0.20 per cent to 9,986.90.
"It seems unlikely we are going to experience the sort of stomach churning sell-offs we saw earlier this year," Mr Jones said. "But it would not be surprising for stock markets to continue gradually unwinding at least some of the gains of the past three months."