LONDON: European technology stocks fell on Friday January 28 and were on track for its biggest monthly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis, as investors sold growth stocks in January amid concerns about an aggressive Federal Reserve tightening and mounting tensions in Ukraine.
A darling of the pandemic, Europe's technology sector, which had risen to its highest level in 21 years in November, slid 15 per cent in January and was on course for its worst month since October 2008. The index was down 1.2 per cent at 8.10 am GMT.
In January, European tech moved along with the Nasdaq index in the United States, which also registered the worst month in more than 23 years.
As investors have been more reluctant to pay hefty valuations for growth stocks, global tech stocks have been under pressure as the Fed said it will likely hike interest rates in March and end its bond purchases that month in a bid to tame inflation.
The growing tensions between Russia and the US over former Soviet country Ukraine has resulted in investors looking for safer assets. Both sides said they kept the door open to further dialogue on Thursday.