European stocks close down 2.4% after strong U.S. jobs data; travel shares slump 4%

The Euro Stoxx 600 finished just off session lows as a strong U.S. jobs report sent jitters through global markets.

Travel and leisure led losses with a 4% drop, followed by retail stocks, which were down 3.7%.

Initial jobless claims increased to 248,000 last week, though the total was only 3,000 higher than the Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number represented a rise of 12,000 from the previous week.

Continuing claims edged lower to 1.72 million, as both numbers pointed to a resilient labor market despite the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking campaign.

In other economic news, the U.S. trade deficit fell to $69 billion in May, just above the estimate.

—Jeff Cox

Private payrolls exploded in June, with job growth totaling 497,000 on the month, according to a report from payrolls processing firm ADP.

The total was more than double the 220,000 Dow Jones estimate and was boosted by growth of 232,000 in the pivotal leisure and hospitality sector. Construction added 97,000 while trade, transportation and utilities grew by 90,000.

The monthly total also was the highest since July 2022. May's total was revised lower to 267,000, down 11,000 from the initial estimate.

—Jeff Cox

Daniel Casali, chief investment strategist at Evelyn Partners, discusses consumer resilience and market recovery amid interest rate hikes.

Swedish games group Embracer plunged to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index with a 14% drop in share price after it raised 2 billion Swedish krona ($182 million) in a discounted share issue.

The group, which holds rights to Tomb Raider, said in June that it would need to cut investments and costs. It issued 80,000 new shares at a subscription price of 25 krona per share late Wednesday, according to a press release.

Embracer has had a turbulent few months as the company tackled weak reception of its games and difficulties in securing partnerships.

Shares of Embracer are down more than 49% year to date, according to Refinitiv data.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

British fintech company CAB Payments listed on the London Stock Exchange with a price of 335 pence ($4.26) per share.

"We are excited about London being an amazing place to list a company," Bhairav Trivedi, CAB Payments CEO said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

When asked why the company had opted to list in London, which has seen a shortfall of IPOs in recent years, Trivedi replied with: "why not?."

"We are very bullish on the London Stock Exchange," Trivedi said, adding that his company wanted to "jumpstart" the U.K. fintech market.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Here are the top performing, actively managed equity funds in the first half of the year, according to data from Morningstar.

CNBC Pro also highlighted the stocks most commonly in the top holdings of these funds, with potential upsides and buy ratings, according to FactSet.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Federal Reserve officials still have a recession as the most likely base case for the U.S. economy, but there was growing optimism at the last meeting that a true "soft landing" could be achieved.

"Given the continued strength in labor market conditions and the resilience of consumer spending, however, the staff saw the possibility of the economy continuing to grow slowly and avoiding a downturn as almost as likely as the mild-recession baseline," the minutes said.

— Jesse Pound

The Federal Reserve expects to raise rates further from current levels, albeit at a slower-than-expected pace, a summary from the central bank's June meeting showed.

"Many [officials] also noted that, after rapidly tightening the stance of monetary policy last year, the Committee had slowed the pace of tightening and that a further moderation in the pace of policy firming was appropriate in order to provide additional time to observe the effects of cumulative tightening and assess their implications for policy," the minutes said.

— Fred Imbert, Jeff Cox

Investors have become "too complacent" in the calm before a potential storm for stock markets, according to Deutsche Bank's Maximilian Uleer.

Uleer, head of European equity and cross-asset strategy at the multinational German lender, said the historically low levels of volatility was a key concern since it signaled rising complacency within the market.

The strategist also named two ways investors could "cheaply" insulate themselves from a potential downturn.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

European equity markets are set to open marginally lower, according to IG data.

Britain's FTSE is anticipated to open six points lower at 7,433, while Germany's DAX is poised to drop 16 points to 15,908. France's CAC is forecast to fall 10 points to 7,239 and Italy's MIB is on track to drop three points to 28,279.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton