STOXX 600 Falls 1.6% as Global Technology Selloff Widens

Key Facts

European shares fell on Friday, November 6, 2026, as technology stocks declined following an overnight selloff on Wall Street, according to an Investing.com report. The European STOXX 600 fell 1.6% to 644.72 points by 08:10 GMT, according to a Reuters update published on the same site. The drop followed sharp losses in U.S. stocks, as pressure on technology companies tied to artificial intelligence spread to global markets. Investing.com linked the selloff to investor concerns about the regulatory implications of the U.S. midterm elections. Those concerns put the technology sector at the center of market moves, while the European index had held weekly gains before the decline widened on Friday morning.

The scale of the selloff was evident in the previous Wall Street session: the Nasdaq Composite ended trading on Thursday, November 5, down 5.5%, while the S&P 500 fell 4.4%, according to the Associated Press. The S&P 500’s decline was its biggest one-day drop since the market turmoil tied to tariffs in April 2025. Pressure spread to Asia on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei down 6.1% and South Korea’s Kospi down 6.3%, the agency reported. The Associated Press linked losses in Asian markets to the spread of a selloff in technology stocks tied to artificial intelligence. Europe’s decline came as part of this global move, after Wall Street closed sharply lower and Asian markets then recorded steep losses.

Reports cited U.S. regulatory concerns as one factor weighing on technology stocks. Investing.com said investors were concerned about the regulatory implications of the midterm elections held in the United States on Tuesday. A Reuters report published via Investing.com added that concerns included the possibility that a Congress led by a Democratic majority could impose restrictions on AI data center spending. The report also cited investor concerns about weak returns, high valuations and debt-financed investment. In this context, the report described these factors as "concerns about weak returns, high valuations and debt-financed investment," alongside the possibility of limiting spending on data centers.

The selloff affected the European index’s performance for the week. The STOXX 600 had been up about 1.3% for the week before Friday’s decline and had come close to setting a new record on Thursday, according to Investing.com. But a Reuters update on Friday morning said the index’s losses erased its earlier weekly gains, leaving it down about 0.2% for the week by 08:10 GMT. The shift highlights how quickly the week’s performance reversed as technology selling intensified, with the index moving from an approximate weekly gain to a modest loss during morning trading. Its approach to a record in the previous session did not prevent continued pressure as the global selloff spread to Europe. The earlier report also said the STOXX 600’s year-to-date gains had outpaced those of the S&P 500 through November 6, despite losses in the European session.

The corporate earnings season provided some support for the European market, according to Investing.com. The report said about 50% of STOXX 600-listed companies had reported quarterly results by November 6, and more than half of the companies that had reported beat consensus earnings expectations. It described results from the consumer staples, capital goods and electricity infrastructure sectors as "strong updates." This came as technology stocks faced broad pressure, with the positive impact of results partly offsetting the sector-related selloff. Daimler Truck also reported a 73% rise in third-quarter operating profit and reaffirmed its full-year outlook, benefiting from a recovery in demand for trucks in North America, according to Reuters via Investing.com.

Attention in coming sessions is focused on European semiconductor and AI equipment stocks, which could remain under pressure as investors shift away from shares that have posted strong gains during the year, a Reuters report via Investing.com said. The report named ASML and Infineon, along with AI equipment companies Schneider Electric and Siemens Energy, among those that could face continued pressure. This comes as market concerns persist over AI data center spending, returns, valuations and debt financing. Those concerns remain linked to the evolving U.S. regulatory debate following the midterm elections, according to the report. Meanwhile, third-quarter results that beat expectations at more than half of reporting companies remain a supportive factor in the background of European trading.