FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with a displayed ASML logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
(Reuters) - Shares of European tech and semiconductor stocks were down on Monday, as worries over a possible U.S. recession after soft data gripped financial markets and triggered a rush out of this year's top-performing stocks and into safe-haven assets.
The STOXX tech index was last down 4.1%, making it the worst performer among sectoral indices on region-wide STOXX 600, which shed some 3%.
A report that Nvidia could delay its AI chip also weighed on sentiment.
The tech index already lost 6% on Friday after weaker-than-expected U.S. job growth and factory data, and disappointing earnings from U.S. heavyweight Intel.
Chip equipment makers cslumped 12%, on top of a 13% fall on Friday. ASML, the largest maker of equipment used to manufacture computer chips, was down 4%.
BE Semiconductor and STMicroelectronic were down around 5%.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Amanda Cooper)
