European stocks with best March performance since 2010

On Friday European stocks fell, with miners leading declines, as investors assessed a rally that pushed equities to their highest level in almost 16 months.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2 percent at 8:27 a.m. in London, trimming its third quarterly advance. The benchmark is also poised to clock its best March performance since 2010, as easing concern over a win for France’s anti-euro candidate in the country’s Coming election boosted lenders.

The Stoxx 600 is heading for its longest run of quarterly gains since 2014, rising 5 percent in the latest three-month period. A chorus of strategists and investors say the reflation rally in Europe has more to go, boosted by those seeking sanctuary from lofty U.S. stock valuations.

Investors are also assessing the Federal Reserve’s rate trajectory. After the central bank earlier this month raised rates and maintained its forecast for future increases in 2017, some officials this week turned more hawkish.

Miners posted the worst performance among Stoxx 600 groups on Friday, snapping a three-day advance. Also dragging on Europe’s benchmark was Old Mutual Plc. The insurer that gets a majority of revenue from South Africa tumbled 7.1 percent in London as the rand headed for its worst weekly drop since 2015, after the firing of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan raised concerns about the country’s fiscal path.

Asian stocks fell as investors took profit amid the strongest quarter for the region’s equity markets in five years. The Topix erased gains for 2017 on the last trading day of Japan’s fiscal year. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9 percent as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong, as about two stocks declined for each that advanced. All 11 industry groups slid, led by healthcare and consumer staples companies.