FRANKFURT: European stocks rose marginally on Tuesday to close out their best quarter since March 2015 as investors bet that the worst economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis had passed.
After lingering in negative territory, the pan-European STOXX 600 finished 0.1% higher, led by technology, mining and real estate sectors.
In Europe, the picture was mixed with German stocks rising 0.6%, while UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.9% as data showed Britain's economy shrank by the most since 1979 in early 2020 as households slashed their spending.
Financial markets in the recent weeks have been torn between fears of a resurgence in coronavirus cases globally and positive economic data as many countries emerge from weeks-long lockdown, slowing the pace of a stock market recovery in June.
The STOXX 600 posted a 12.6% rise in the second quarter - its best since March 2015 - as unprecedented stimulus, hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine and relatively fewer virus cases in Europe powered a rebound from March lows, but the index is down 13.6% for the year.
Chipmakers STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies, ASM International rose between 1.6% and 5.8% following an upbeat revenue forecast from US-based Micron Technology.
UK energy major Royal Dutch Shell fell 3.9% after revealing plans to slash the value of its oil and gas assets by up to $22 billion and weakened the outlook for energy prices.
Europe's broader energy index fell 1.4% as oil prices slipped on a possible return of Libyan production.
Swedish airline SAS slumped 12.6% after it agreed to a 14.25 billion crown ($1.5 billion) plan with top shareholders to shore up its finances against the collapse in air travel.
Scandal-hit payments company Wirecard jumped 75.8%, extending gains for a second day.
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