Europe close: Stocks weaker on global tech rout

23rd Jun 2026 15:41

(Sharecast News) - European shares closed lower on Tuesday after a sell-off in technology stocks on Wall Street, while oil prices fell after the US issued a sanctions waiver for Iran.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.73% to 634.63.

Germany's DAX declined 0.98% to 24,893.58 and France's CAC 40 lost 0.71% to 8,340.71, while London's FTSE 100 edged down 0.09% to 10,428.85.

In commodities, Brent crude futures were last down 1.18% on ICE at $76.98 per barrel, while the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.14% to $73.02.

David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said European indices opened sharply lower as investors followed the sell-off across Asia-Pacific markets and US stock futures, with technology shares under intense pressure.

"South Korea's Kospi dropped 10%, as regulators warned about the excessive use of leverage when trading the index and high-flying tech stocks," he said.

"There are also concerns that the US Federal Reserve may lead the way in tightening monetary policy throughout the rest of the year.

"This could make it significantly more expensive to finance borrowing thereby impacting AI infrastructure spending."

US stocks finished mixed on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipping into the red after earlier gains as heavy losses among major technology names weighed on sentiment.

Crude prices also fell after the US waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday, following the first talks aimed at negotiating a permanent peace deal.

The US Treasury separately announced a waiver until 21 August allowing Tehran to sell oil and related products.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo, said a sell-off in technology shares that sent South Korea's Kospi down 10% had triggered widespread de-risking and deleveraging, with European shares tracking broadly lower in early trade.

"It follows a decent session that saw the FTSE 100 snap a two-day losing streak," he said.

"SpaceX, which is tapping bond markets for $20bn, came back down to earth with a 16% drop, while Alphabet and Amazon weighed heavily on the indices, declining 5% as Nasdaq declined 1.32% but the Dow Jones managed to eke out a gain of +0.3%."

Euro area private sector downturn eases

On the economic front, the downturn in the eurozone private sector eased in June.

S&P Global's flash composite output index rose to a three-month high of 49.5 from 48.5 in May, although it remained below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction.

The services PMI rose to 48.9 from 47.7, while the manufacturing PMI slipped to 51.3 from 51.6.

Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the eurozone economy was showing "enough resilience to just about stay out of recession".

He said services activity was improving as tourism and leisure demand recovered from the initial disruption caused by the Middle East war, while manufacturing continued to benefit from inventory building as customers tried to guard against future price rises and supply issues.

ING said the survey still pointed to sluggish activity, but the easing in price pressures was encouraging and marked a dovish reading for the European Central Bank.

In the UK, manufacturing order books fell to a six-year low in June, according to the Confederation of British Industry.

The CBI's monthly order books balance fell to -45 from -41 in May, the weakest reading since September 2020, while output volumes in the three months to June dropped to -33 from -23, the lowest since the quarter to August 2020.

The wider UK economy also continued to falter in June.

The flash S&P Global UK composite output index fell to a 14-month low of 49.4 from 49.7 in May, missing expectations for a rise to 50.6.

Manufacturing output rose to a 21-month high of 53.6, but the services business activity index fell to 48.7 from 49.3, its lowest level in more than three years.

In the US, business activity improved in June.

S&P Global's manufacturing PMI rose to 55.7 from 55.1 in May, its strongest reading since May 2022, while the services PMI edged up to 51.3 from 50.7.

The composite PMI increased to 52.2 from 51.5, the strongest pace of private-sector growth since January, helped by firmer services demand and stronger manufacturing orders.

Signify slumps on updated targets, Bunzl in the green

In equity markets, Signify slumped 14.77% after the world's largest lighting company updated investors on its financial targets.

On the upside, Bunzl rose 4.75% after the distribution group raised annual guidance following a stronger-than-expected start to the year.

Heineken gained 2.2% after the brewer appointed Rafael Oliveira as chief executive officer and chairman of the board.

Oliveira will step down as chief executive of coffee and tea group JDE Peet's to join the Dutch brewer on 1 October.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.