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European shares slip as tech rally stalls, Middle East uncertainty weighs
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European shares slip as tech rally stalls, Middle East uncertainty weighs
Jun 5, 2026 10:00 AM

* STOXX down 0.3%, logs weekly loss

* Bodycote ( BYPLF ) down as Apollo drops buyout plan

* Raspberry Pi climbs after lifting forecast

By Johann M Cherian, Utkarsh Hathi and Ragini Mathur

June 5 (Reuters) - European shares slipped on Friday and

ended the week lower, as uncertainty about Middle East peace

efforts kept investors on edge and technology stocks paused

after a blistering two-month rally.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.3% at

622.66 points and lost 0.5% for the week.

Brent crude fell for a second straight session, though

prices remained near $93 a barrel. Hopes for a diplomatic

breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran appeared limited after

the two countries exchanged strikes earlier in the week, while a

U.S.-brokered Israel-Lebanon ceasefire also looked fragile after

Hezbollah rejected the pact.

The resulting spike in energy costs has complicated the

inflation outlook. Data this week showed euro zone inflation

accelerated in May, prompting markets to price in a

25-basis-point interest rate hike from the European Central Bank

next week.

"A hike is consistent with the data," said a group of

analysts at Deutsche Bank led by Mark Wall, in a note.

"A U.S.-Iran deal would not prevent it. After three months

of elevated energy prices, the ECB sees some indirect inflation

as inevitable."

U.S. JOBS DATA EYED

Sentiment was also dented by stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs

data, which showed employers added far more positions than

forecast in May. The figures reinforced expectations that the

U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates later this year,

adding pressure to global equities.

Technology stocks were among the top sectoral

decliners with a 2.9% drop, following a rally that has helped

the shares gain about 30% in the past two months - the most

among STOXX 600 sectors.

The pullback echoed a broader pause in global technology shares

this week after disappointing results from U.S. chipmaker

Broadcom ( AVGO ).

European chip stocks such as Infineon and Aixtron

lost 9.1% and 4.8%, respectively, while AI equipment

makers Legrand and Schneider Electric

slipped 2.3% and 4.5%, respectively.

Earlier this week, the European Commission proposed laws to

boost domestic cloud, AI and semiconductor industries and cut

reliance on U.S. Big Tech, called the Cloud and AI Development

Act and Chips Act 2.0.

"Tech is coming to Europe and will almost certainly be a

story for the latter years or so of the current decade and the

early years of the 2030s," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, European

strategist at Raymond James.

The financial services sector was heading for a 0.8%

weekly loss after rising redemption requests from asset managers

reignited concerns about strains in private markets.

Among other stocks, thermal processing services company Bodycote ( BYPLF )

slid 13% after saying Apollo Global Management ( APO )

does not intend to make the firm a buyout offer.

Single-board computing company Raspberry Pi jumped

27.6%, hitting a record high, after raising its full-year profit

forecast.

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