European stock markets fell sharply on Friday after a sell-off in US tech stocks on Thursday. The FTSE 100 was down 1.5 percent, or 166 points, at 10,615 at the start of trading.
The Nasdaq fell 5.5 percent on Thursday, its worst day in 19 months. Chip stocks led the slump, with SanDisk down 22 percent and Western Digital down 17 percent. The Vix volatility index jumped 61 percent.
Asian markets follow Wall Street lower
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell about 6 percent in early Friday trading. South Korea’s Kospi dropped more than 8 percent in early trading.
Europe followed. Germany’s Dax opened 1.5 percent lower, France’s Cac 40 declined 1.2 percent and Spain’s Ibex fell 1.1 percent.
Fears over AI spending
The sell-off was linked to fears of a slowdown in the AI industry after the Democrats won the US midterm elections. Investors have become nervous about returns on heavy spending on AI infrastructure.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the build-out of datacentres looks set to slow. She said that risks undermining the spending that underpins the boom, just as investors grow wary of returns on the investment.
AstraZeneca fell 2.8 percent at the market open. IAG, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, dropped 1.5 percent after missing profit forecasts in a trading update.
Gains for the year still largely intact
The Nasdaq Composite was more than 10 percent below its peak. The FTSE 100 remained more than 300 points below its July record high, though it was still up almost 6.9 percent in 2026.
Related: Asian stocks slip as US tech sell-off weighs on sentiment · US stocks slip as tech shares sell off on AI spending worries
