(Sharecast News) - European shares opened sharply lower on Tuesday after tech stock sell off on Wall Street, while oil prices also fell as the US issued a sanctions waiver for Iran.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.85% at 0820 BST will all major bourses lower.
US stocks finished mixed on Monday, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped into the red following earlier gains, with big losses from a number of heavyweight tech names hitting markets.
New market entrant SpaceX continued its post-IPO slump, and Alphabet dropped after its AI business lost a key figure to Anthropic. Other blue chips in the sector also ended lower, including Apple, Amazon.com and Microsoft.
Crude oil fell after the US waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first talks to negotiate a permanent peace deal agreed a roadmap.
Brent crude fell 1.6% to $76.66 a barrel in early London trading not far from the $72 level before the US and Israel launched their war of choice on Iran and Lebanon in February.
The US Treasury announced a waiver until 21 August on sanctions, allowing Tehran to sell oil and related products.
"That is positive news for headline inflation and consumers, but it is no longer enough to lift equities on its own. The market has already priced in much of the easy relief from lower oil; what matters next is whether peace negotiations actually translate into durable shipping normalisation and a final settlement," said Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group.
"Gold is also lower, reflecting reduced demand for traditional geopolitical hedges. But the Dollar is stronger against most major currencies, which shows that investors are not simply moving into a broad risk-on posture. Instead, the market is becoming more selective: fewer energy-shock fears, but more concern about rates, tech positioning and policy uncertainty."
In equity news, shares in Signify tanked as the world's largest lighting company updated investors on its financial targets.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com