LIVE | AEX opens a lot lower after tech sell-off on Wall Street

The AEX opens lower after a strong setback on Wall Street. Optimism about new interest rate cuts in the United States has disappeared like snow in the sun. Tech and AI stocks in particular were sold. Big names like Nvidia and Tesla were hit hard.

On top of that, investors are nervously awaiting a stack of US economic data that have been delayed due to the recent shutdown. If they are disappointing, an additional interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve seems to be out of the question for the time being. That’s something Fed officials have been tentatively hinting at in recent days.

Prosus is the biggest faller in the AEX this morning, with a loss of more than 3 percent. The investor, major shareholder of Tencentmoves along with the Chinese tech giant, which previously sank on the Hang Seng. The chip funds are also in bad shape: Besi yields almost 2.7 percent, ASMI more than 2.4 percent, and ASML drops about 1.6 percent.

Also included are: Phillips (-1.4 percent), ArcelorMittal (-1.3 percent) and ING (-1.1 percent) clearly under pressure.

Defensive stocks such as Ahold (-0.1 percent) and Heineken (+0.1 percent) hardly move. CVC (+1.1 percent) is one of the few risers after a positively received figure update.