On Friday, European stock markets moved lower, following the global trend as a widespread sell-off in semiconductor and technology stocks weighed on sentiment.
Shortly after the opening bell, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.2%. The UK's FTSE 100 index opened 0.2% lower, Germany's DAX index started down 0.3%, and France's CAC 40 index opened flat.
A wave of selling in technology shares that began overnight in U.S. and Asian markets carried over into the European morning session. The Stoxx 600 Technology sector index opened with a sharp decline of 2%, with leading semiconductor firms Infineon and ASML falling by 4% and 2.5%, respectively.
The catalyst for this decline was a disappointing earnings report from Broadcom, which triggered a large-scale repositioning of funds away from artificial intelligence-related stocks and into defensive sectors.
The sell-off was particularly severe in South Korea, where the chip industry is a cornerstone of the economy. The KOSPI index was down 4.3%, with heavyweight constituents Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix closing 4.3% and 7.6% lower, respectively.
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged on Thursday to another record high, while the more tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index showed weakness.
The 30-stock Dow jumped 874.86 points, or 1.73%, to close at a historic high of 51,561.93 points. The Nasdaq edged down 0.09% to 26,830.96 points, and the S&P 500 gained 0.41% to finish at 7,584.31.
In Europe, the technology sector, which had seen significant gains over several consecutive days, experienced profit-taking. Shares of Nokia closed with a loss exceeding 6%.
In other news, former U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that he would be happy to meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei if it could help secure a deal. The U.S.-Iran conflict has entered its fourth month, with both sides currently in a fragile ceasefire stalemate.
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