European stocks gave up early gains on Monday, with travel and oil stocks taking a hit even as several countries emerged from coronavirus-driven lockdowns.

The pan-European STOXX 600 shed 0.25%, easing from a near 1% gain at the open. Europe's travel and leisure as well as oil and gas sectors fell about 1% each.

Shares in Britain's low-cost carrier easyJet fell 7% and British Airways-owner IAG dropped 2.2% as the UK government said it would introduce a 14-day quarantine period for most people arriving from abroad.

French stocks took a hit as Airbus SE dropped 3.6% after Australia's Qantas Airways said it did not expect to take delivery of any new planes in the near term as it grapples with a plunge in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Aircraft engines maker Safran dropped 4%.

Despite a feeble start to the month, European shares have recovered more than 27% since mid-March lows as investors pinned their hopes on a swift economic recovery after countries started to ease lockdowns and policymakers' support to ailing economies.

That helped markets look past a staggering 20.5 million US job losses in April, while Germany's Ifo institute said that many industries are cutting jobs, noting that 39% of automotive companies, 50% of hotels, 58% of restaurants and 43% of travel agencies had shed staff in April.

Among gainers, French carmaker Renault rose 3.8% after finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that he regretted a decision by the CGT trade union to prevent a reopening of a Renault plant at Sandouville. The government is set to hold new meetings this week with members of the automotive industry.

German payments company Wirecard jumped 8% after announcing a reshuffle of its management board amid allegations including accounting irregularities and disclosure violations, which it denied.

Italian shares gained 0.5% in relief that Moody's spared the country of a rating downgrade on Friday, but DBRS Morningstar cut Italy's trend to "negative" from "stable", citing uncertainty over the economic repercussions stemming from the outbreak.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

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