18.08.202616:31:22UTC+00European Stocks Pull Back

European equities finished sharply lower on Tuesday, mirroring weakness across global stock markets as longer-dated bond yields continued to climb. The Euro STOXX 50 declined 0.9% to 6,473, while the STOXX Europe 600 slipped 0.6% to 652.

Sovereign bond yields in the region’s largest economies rose markedly, following a similar move in North America. The upswing was driven in part by surging debt issuance from major AI-related companies, which pushed concerns over already elevated deficit spending in both the US and the Eurozone further into focus. This, in turn, fueled renewed speculation that central banks may be forced to tighten policy further.

In the equity space, technology and industrial names were among the hardest hit. ASML dropped 5%, while Infineon slumped more than 7%, wiping out gains from recent sessions. Schneider Electric and Siemens lost 4.5% and 2.3%, respectively, and Siemens Energy fell 5.5%, broadly in line with the pullback in AI infrastructure plays.