On Tuesday European stock markets inched down, as worries about the region’s economic recovery diluted the positive start to a new month.

The UK’s FTSE 100 traded 0.6% lower, the CAC 40 in France dropped 0.5%, and the DAX in Germany fell 0.3%.

The eurozone’s main equity indices have mainly traded higher in the first days of the new month as investors hunted for bargains after the dismal first six months of the year.

Concerns that global central banks would push economies into recession in fighting rampant inflation pushed investors to look for cover during the first half of the year, with the STOXX 600 pan-European index down about 16% this year so far.

The tone Tuesday was helped by strong economic data out of Asia, as June services activity in China grew at the fastest rate in nearly a year and the service sector activity in Japan expanded at the fastest pace in more than eight years.

The news in Europe was not as impressive as May industrial production in France was flat, and the Eurozone’s PMI numbers all showed activity slowing.

AstraZeneca stock lifted 0.3% after the pharma giant revealed plans to buy TeneoTwo, an oncology firm, in a deal worth $1.27B.