Chipmakers drag European equities lower ahead of inflation data

European shares fell on Friday, with semiconductor stocks leading the slide following tepid outlook from U.S. memory-chip firm Micron Technology, while investors awaited euro zone inflation data for clues on the pace of interest rate hikes.

Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML, Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics and German chipmaker Infineon fell between 3.1% and 4.1% after Micron gave a significantly weaker-than-expected business outlook.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was down 0.8% by 0709 GMT, a day after marking its worst quarter since the pandemic-led selling of early 2020 and tracking a dour Wall Street session on data that exacerbated concerns around a recession.


Miners and oil and gas companies dipped about 0.3% each as commodity prices slipped on demand concerns.

The first estimate of June consumer price index for the euro zone will be released at 0900 GMT, and it is likely that inflation accelerated to a record high of 8.4% from 8.1% in May.

Sodexo gained 2.3% after the French catering and food services group reported upbeat third-quarter revenue, citing strong growth in all business segments and geographies.