European stocks struggled on the last day of the month, quarter and first half of 2021, as losses for banks and autos weighed. U.S. stock futures pointed to modest gains as investors looked ahead to Friday’s jobs data.
Stock futures ES00, -0.12% YM00, -0.24% NQ00, -0.02% indicated a steady start for Wall Street ahead of an ADP private-sector hiring report, as Friday’s key jobs report looms. Economic data from the U.K. showed gross domestic product fell 1.6% in the first quarter of 2021, revised from an initial estimate of a 1.5% fall. The level of GDP is now 8.8% below — from an initial estimate of 8.7% below — where it was pre-pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2019.Most European stocks were in the red, led by banks, with shares of HSBC HSBC, -1.16% HSBA, -1.15%, BNP Paribas BNP, -1.77% and Banco Santander SAN, -0.76% SAN, -1.16% down around 1% each.