European shares slip as tech selloff bites, Zalando slides

 European shares pulled back from record highs on Friday, with technology shares tracking global ‌sector weakness, while Zalando fell after Germany's financial regulator launched a probe into the retailer's accounts.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index  closed 0.7% lower, narrowly marking gains for the week.

Shares of Zalando slid 6.3% after BaFin launched an investigation into the online fashion ​retailer's 2025 financial statements, citing evidence the company breached accounting regulations. The broader retail sector  lost ​1.6%.

Meanwhile, uncertainty around the global technology sector prevailed, with investors focused on a surge ⁠in memory chip costs as a result of strong AI-driven demand. Asian equities fell sharply overnight, while ​Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq flip-flopped between gains and declines.

"The AI narrative in markets right now is all over the ​place, shifting from questions about ROI from the AI spend, to exuberance about the AI spend," said Richard Reyle, chief investment officer at Questar Capital Partners.

"These conflicting narratives suggest that the market is in the process of picking winners and losers ​in this space, and that is a process that will take time."

In Europe, the tech sector  fell 1.2%.

Chipmakers ​Infineon  and STMicroelectronics  slipped 4.5% each. On the other hand, semiconductor equipment makers BE Semiconductor  and ASML  dropped 2.2% and ‌1%, respectively.