07/17/2024 – 7:10
By Sergio Caldas
São Paulo, 07/17/2024 – The main European stock markets are trading lower this Wednesday morning, maintaining the negative tone of the week, amid a sharp drop in semiconductor stocks and while investors assimilate inflation data from the euro zone and the United Kingdom.
At around 6:50 am (Brasília time), the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.50%, at 514.78 points. Only the technology sub-index suffered losses of 2.85%.
The tech sector’s sour mood came after reports that the U.S. government is considering imposing the toughest trade restrictions available if chip companies such as ASML Holding and Tokyo Electron continue to give China access to advanced semiconductor technology.
In Amsterdam, ASML was down 7.50% at the time of writing, dragging down other Dutch semiconductor manufacturers, such as ASM International (-4.8%) and BE Semiconductor (-3.4%).
Earlier, European consumer inflation (CPI) figures were released.
In the euro zone, the annual CPI rate was confirmed to have slowed to 2.5% in June, a day before the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its monetary policy decision. The ECB, however, has signaled in recent weeks that it will likely leave its interest rates unchanged this month, after cutting them for the first time in nearly five years in early June, as certain components of inflation remain persistently high.
In the UK, the annual CPI stood at 2% in June, repeating the level of May, but contrary to the forecast that it would slow to 1.9%. The higher-than-expected British inflation boosted the pound.
At 7:06 am (Brasília time), the London Stock Exchange was down 0.05%, the Paris Stock Exchange was down 0.20%, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was down 0.27% and the Madrid Stock Exchange was stable. The Milan and Lisbon Stock Exchanges were up 0.09% and 0.33%, respectively.
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