European stock markets trade lower with global weakness in technology stocks

European stock markets are trading lower this Friday morning (26), as technology shares follow the sector's global weakness.

At around 6:20 am (Brasília time), the pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.80%, to 635.09 points, after closing at an all-time high in the previous session. The technology sub-index fell 1.8%.

Yesterday, the New York stock exchanges closed without a single direction, but the Nasdaq - an index with a heavy weight of technology shares - fell for the fourth consecutive session. Today, the Nasdaq future signaled new losses early in the morning, with a drop of more than 1%.

Uncertainties surrounding the sector have returned to the radar amid the jump in memory chip costs, driven by the strong expansion of demand linked to artificial intelligence. In this context, Apple and Microsoft - which helped pressure the Nasdaq yesterday - announced price adjustments.

The issue also weighed on the mood of Asian markets, with particularly sharp falls in Japan and South Korea.

In corporate news, shares in online fashion retailer Zalando fell nearly 5% in Frankfurt after Germany's financial regulator opened an audit of the company's financial statements over alleged irregularities involving an acquisition.

At 6:34 am (Brasília time), the London Stock Exchange fell 0.75%, the Paris Stock Exchange fell 0.61% and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell 1.25%. Those in Milan, Madrid and Lisbon had losses of 1.20%, 0.45% and 0.20%.

Source: CNN