By Adam Whittaker


European indexes slid in early trading Thursday as the global equity selloff extended into Europe after sweeping the U.S and Asia.

France's CAC 40 was down 1.85%, Germany's DAX slipped 1.6%, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.1% and Italy's FTSE MIB fell 2.4%

Triggered by second-quarter earnings from U.S. technology companies that didn't live up to high expectations--and growing wariness about artificial-intelligence investments translating into profits--the selloff in Europe hit companies across all sectors.

Meanwhile, business sentiment has worsened across the eurozone, according to a closely-watched survey published this week, which suggested that private-sector activity barely increased this month. Confidence among business executives worsened in Germany, the currency union's largest economy, where the key manufacturing sector is struggling to recover. In France, political deadlock and weak external demand are similarly weighing on growth.

Mid-morning in the U.K., telecommunications stocks were among the hardest hit, with BT Group down 3.3%, Vodafone down 2.2% and Airtel down 9%. Mining stocks were also weak, with gold mining company Centamin down 7.4%, Endeavour Mining down 3.4% and Glencore down 2.1%.

"The FTSE 100 has been caught up in a global market selloff with a sea of red across European equities today," Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said in a note.

In France, Gucci owner Kering's shares fell 7.3% after earnings reported late Wednesday echoed concerns from other luxury companies about sluggish demand in China--the industry's long-time growth engine.

Negative sentiment didn't spare companies reporting good news, with French car giant Renault down 8.3% despite reporting late Wednesday that it had broken its profitability record in the first half of the year.

In Germany, semiconductor manufacturer Infineon was down 6.1%, reflecting investor concern about companies exposed to the AI sector.

In Italy, Stellantis was down 8.1% after net profit fell 48% and the car manufacturer warned of cuts to production and price cuts.


Joshua Kirby contributed to this article.


Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-25-24 0502ET