European shares fall on tech rout, Fed policy jitters
European shares tumbled on Friday and were set for their sharpest weekly drop since late March as global worries over overvalued tech stocks and hawkish U.S. monetary policy kept investors cautions.
The pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 1% to 558.19 points by 0815 GMT, the lowest since early October.
Major regional bourses fell, with Germany’s benchmark shedding 1.2% to its lowest since early May, while France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.7% to a one-month low.
Tech stocks that had been the spotlight of recent market volatility lost 2%, while AI equipment makers that have benefited from the technology boom, such as Schneider Electric and Siemens Energy, were down 2% and 7%, respectively.
Thursday’s global rally following Nvidia’s upbeat forecasts proved short-lived as worries of a potential AI bubble resurfaced and a mixed U.S. jobs report fanned uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s December policy rate decision.
The STOXX is on track for weekly losses of nearly 3%, its biggest weekly drop since the unveiling of U.S. tariffs sent global markets into a tailspin between late March and early April.
Source: Reuters.com
