European shares fell on Wednesday, hit by a drop in commodity stocks and banks, while the travel sector was under pressure after the U.S. issued a travel alert over the possibility of attacks in Europe this summer.

The FTSEurofirst 300 and STOXX Europe 600 both fell 0.4 per cent, extending falls from Tuesday’s 0.8 per cent drop.

The top sectoral faller was the STOXX 600 Basic Resources index, which fell 2.3 per cent. Mining companies led the sector lower after official and private surveys on China’s manufacturing activity, which suggested the world’s second-largest economy is still struggling to regain traction.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ index (PMI) showed activity at China’s factories shrank for a 15th straight month in May. The official manufacturing May PMI painted a slightly more optimistic picture and stood unchanged from the previous month at 50.1.