(Reuters) – 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. [.N]
Miners and oil and gas companies dipped about 0.3% each as commodity prices slipped on demand concerns. [O/R][MET/L]
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.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
