LONDON: Heavy selloffs in tech stocks hammered equity markets Thursday, tracking a plunge on Wall Street as disappointing earnings caused traders to panic that a long-running rally in the sector may have been overdone.
Paris tumbled more than two percent nearing the half-way stage after Tokyo closed down 3.3 percent, as a stronger yen added to the downward pressure on Japanese exporters.
“Earnings season jitters have really taken hold,” noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
“The risk-off sentiment permeating through financial markets has done little to help traditional havens such as the dollar and gold, with both losing ground alongside equities.”
Oil prices slid nearly two percent Thursday.
European shares end lower as earnings whirlwind disappoints
Shares in French-Italian chip maker STMicroelectronics plunged 14 percent and Infineon Technologies shed more than six percent.
Nearly all sectors suffered, however, with Renault crashing over nine percent and Gucci owner Kering down seven percent.
Among the rare risers was consumer goods giant Unilever, which jumped nearly six percent on well-received earnings.
Global stocks had pushed ever higher this year – with New York’s three main indexes hitting multiple records.
Tech titans such as Google parent Alphabet and chipmakers Nvidia and TSMC have been boosted by an explosion of interest in all things linked to artificial intelligence.
The rallies have been helped by blockbuster profits and upbeat outlooks, causing investors to pile in with cash owing to a fear of missing out.
However, with valuations pushing to dizzying heights, analysts have been warning about retreat, and Tuesday’s earnings from Tesla and Alphabet provided a selling opportunity.
Tesla said profits fell 45 percent in the second quarter owing to price cuts and aggressive AI investment.
Seoul’s SK Hynix dived nearly nine percent Thursday despite strong earnings, while Samsung lost two percent.
Tokyo-listed Sony was off more than five percent and Japanese investment giant SoftBank, which has pivoted into AI technologies, gave up 9.4 percent.
Hong Kong and Shanghai fell despite a surprise cut in a key rate by the Chinese central bank.
The earnings shock comes as major economies struggle to mount growth recoveries even as central banks start to cut interest rates in the face of cooler inflation.
Business confidence in Europe’s biggest economy Germany unexpectedly weakened in July, a closely-watched survey showed Thursday.
The Ifo institute’s confidence barometer, based on a survey of around 9,000 companies, declined to 87 points from 88.6 points in June.
The fall was the third in a row and surprised analysts who had been expecting a small improvement in business morale.
Key figures around 1045 GMT
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,092.17 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 2.1 percent at 7,356.96
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.4 percent at 18,128.29
Euro STOXX 50: DOWN 1.9 percent at 4,770.74
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 3.3 percent at 37,869.51 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.8 percent at 17,004.97 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 2,886.74 (close)
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.3 percent at 39,853.87 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0850 from $1.0842 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2884 from $1.2905
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.27 yen from 153.99 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 84.23 pence at 84.08 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $76.22 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $80.23 per barrel
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