European Stocks Lack Direction, Tech Sinks

European Stocks Lack Direction, Tech Sinks

Both the STOXX 50 and the STOXX 600 were little changed on Tuesday, following modest losses in the previous session that left the main indexes slightly below their record highs.

Caution carried over from the Asian session after Samsung Electronics' strong guidance prompted investors to reassess the lofty valuations underpinning the AI-driven rally, weighing heavily on technology stocks.

Samsung forecast April–June operating profit of 89.4 trillion won, marking a 19-fold increase from a year earlier.

ASML Holding fell 3.9%, Infineon Technologies lost 3.5%, and STMicroelectronics declined 3.3%.

Meanwhile, Siemens Energy tumbled 6% after Barclays downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "equal weight".

In contrast, gains in consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and energy stocks helped offset most of the weakness in the technology sector.

Shell (+2.3%), LVMH (+1.4%), L'Oreal (+2.1%), TotalEnergies (+1.0%), and Hermes (+1.5%) were among the session's strongest performers.

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