European tech stocks fall to six-month low, join in global sell-off

European technology stocks fell to their lowest level in over six months on Friday, amid a broad global equity sell-off and as investors dumped semiconductor stocks following disappointing earnings from Intel.

The STOXX Europe 600 technology index was last down 3.6 per cent to its lowest since January. The broader STOXX 600 index index was down 1.3 per cent.

Shares in chipmaker Intel slumped 20 per cent premarket after the company suspended its dividend and said it would cut 15 per cent of its workforce as it grapples with a pullback in spending on traditional data center semiconductors and a focus on AI chips.

That helped push European peers lower, with ASM International, BE Semiconductor and ASML all shedding between 6.6 per cent and 9.2 per cent.

Amazon shares are also down around 8 in premarket trading after reporting slowing online sales growth.

Global equity markets tumbled around the globe, with the S&P 500 ending Thursday's session down 1.4 per cent.

Tech stocks tumbled in Asia earlier in the day, contributing to a 5.8 per cent fall in Japan's Nikkei, and a 3.65 per cent drop in Korea's KOSPI benchmark.