City workers in the La Defense business district of Paris, France, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.
Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images
LONDON — European markets resumed their sell-off on Friday, as U.S. tech stock volatility spills over the Atlantic once again.
By 10:48 a.m. in London (5:48 a.m. ET), the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.9% lower, with major bourses and most sectors in negative territory.
Looking at individual stocks in Europe, Dutch semiconductor firm BE Semiconductor dropped 7% in morning trade, while chip equipment makers ASMI and ASML fell 5.8% and 7%, respectively.
The regional Stoxx Europe Technology index was 3.1% lower by mid-morning to trade at its lowest level since Sept. 16.
Headlines around a possible peace deal for Ukraine have also been influencing sentiment in Europe in recent days, with reports suggesting Washington and Moscow have been secretly brokering a peace plan to bring the war to an end — potentially forcing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make some tough choices.
News agency Reuters reported on Thursday that the peace plan would require Kyiv to concede the entire Donbas region to Moscow and downsize its military.
Zelenskyy, who has previously rejected the notion that his country would give up land to end the conflict, said on Telegram on Thursday night that he had been presented with peace plan proposals from U.S. delegates earlier in the day.
“From the first days of the war, we have upheld one very simple position: Ukraine needs peace. A real peace … with terms that respect our independence, our sovereignty, and the dignity of the Ukrainian people,” he said. “I outlined our key principles. And we agreed that our teams will work on these proposals to ensure it’s all genuine.”
European defense stocks sold off on Friday morning, with the Stoxx Europe Aerospace and Defense index — last seen trading 3.5% lower — on track for its worst day in a month. Germany’s Renk was 9% lower, while shares of Rheinmetall and Hensoldt were each down by more than 7%.
Meanwhile, investors across the globe are also digesting Thursday’s long-delayed U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, in the hopes of gauging some clues on the trajectory of American monetary policy. Market expectations of a December rate cut from the Federal Reserve have fallen drastically in recent weeks, with the jobs report — the first since the U.S. government shutdown — painting a mixed picture of the American labor market.
