Europe open: Stocks drift lower amid drag from technology shares

(Sharecast News) - Stocks were a tad in the red early in the session as investors digested stronger-than-expected weekly jobless data released the day before in the US. Some investors were likely also wary of taking on too much risk heading into the weekend and central bank policy meetings in the euro area, Japan and US scheduled for the following week.

Also on the horizon was the 28-30 July Chinese Politburo meeting, although according to Morgan Stanley the scale and areas of the economy to be targeted had yet to be confirmed.

As of 0833 BST, the pan-European Stoxx 600 as drifting lower by 0.11% to 463.41, alongside a 0.6% drop for the German Dax to 16,108.59.

The other main regional bourses on the other hand were only slightly lower.

Data released the day before had shown another unexpected drop in weekly unemployment claims in the U.S., triggering a jump in bond yields and some talk that more interest rates hikes than anticipated were yet possible.

Dragging on the German benchmark gauge were shares of software maker SAP which reported weaker-than-expected second quarter sales at its cloud unit.

Sentiment towards technology issues more generally was also hit by news overnight that Taiwan Semiconductor had cut its outlook and pushed back the expected date for the start of production in the at its US plant in Arizona until 2025.

The Stoxx 600 Technology sub-index was off by 1.12% as a result.