Stoxx 600 Flat, AI Fear Trade Selloff Begins to Ease
European stock movements remained stable on Friday (February 13th), with investors choosing to focus on company earnings rather than prolonging the AI-related panic. The wave of selling in sectors previously considered most at risk from artificial intelligence disruption began to subside, leaving the market more controlled despite extreme movements in some stocks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was virtually unchanged at around 8:15 a.m. London time, but still secured its third weekly gain. At the sector level, technology and insurance performed stronger, while consumer goods were the weakest. The biggest pressure came from L'Oreal, which plunged 6.3% after its sales missed expectations at the end of last year, primarily due to the disappointing performance of its luxury products division.
Conversely, Capgemini briefly rose as much as 4.8% after management emphasized that the company was accelerating its pivot to capitalize on the AI adoption trend projected to boost sales this year. The transportation and logistics sector—which had been hit the day before by the AI "fear trade"—started to recover, with DSV and Kuehne + Nagel posting gains. In other individual stocks, Safran jumped 7% after raising its 2028 revenue target, while Flutter Entertainment fell 7.8% after DraftKings' US outlook was deemed disappointing. Despite the turmoil in some major names, the Stoxx 600's rally has held up so far, especially since the index hit a record earlier in the week due to more evenly distributed gains across sectors.
Source: Newsmaker.id
