London, July 10, 2026, 11:35 (BST)
European stocks nudged up Friday, with the STOXX 600 quoted at 641.78 for a 0.14% gain in late morning. Under the surface, some buying showed, but the headline index stayed nearly flat. ASML AMS:ASML dropped 2.32%.
That’s key since ASML made up 4.48% of an iShares STOXX 600 ETF as of July 8, while all tech stocks together were at 8.68%. That put ASML at just over half of the ETF’s tech exposure. The stock’s drop wiped roughly 10 basis points from the index — with a basis point equal to one-hundredth of a percent — so the rest of the market would have gained about 0.26% if not for ASML, instead of the published 0.14%.
| Late-morning breadth check | Move or weight |
|---|---|
| STOXX 600 | +0.14% |
| ASML | -2.32% |
| ASML tracker weighting | 4.48% |
| Drag from ASML (est.) | -0.10 percentage point |
| STOXX 600 est. move without ASML | +0.26% |
Numbers use late-morning prices and the July 8 tracker weight; figures rounded.
Sectors moved in different directions all session. Miners rose 2%, leading gains, and travel and leisure added 1%. Tech was weak, pulling back against those advances and leaving the STOXX 600 set to snap a four-week run.
Siltronic (ETR:WAF) dropped 2% and Soitec (EPA:SOI) slipped 2.8%, adding to the selling across ASML’s semiconductor supply chain peers. Investors also waited for SK Hynix KRX:000660 to start U.S. trading. “The concentration and momentum around chipmakers and artificial intelligence has caused real distortion,” said Justin Onuekwusi, chief investment officer at St. James’s Place (LON:STJ). Reuters
easyJet (LON:EZJ) climbed 14.4% to about 673 pence after Apollo Global Management NYSE:APO made a 715 pence-per-share offer, putting the airline’s value at £5.7 billion. The share price stayed 5.9% below Apollo’s bid, pointing to ongoing regulatory and deal risk. “The potential for the business remains substantial,” IG Group (LON:IGG) chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said. Davy’s Stephen Furlong said approval is possible for either Apollo’s bid or Castlelake’s, so the focus remains on price. Reuters
Another concentration issue shows up in earnings estimates. LSEG (LON:LSEG) IBES data puts second-quarter profit growth for STOXX 600 firms at 15.3%. But that drops to 6% if you exclude energy. Revenue growth also falls—from 10.5% to 3.9% by the same measure. Eight out of 10 sectors should see gains, but energy profits are seen more than doubling.
| Second-quarter 2026 forecast | All STOXX 600 | Excluding energy | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings growth | 15.3% | 6.0% | 9.3 percentage points |
| Revenue growth | 10.5% | 3.9% | 6.6 percentage points |
UBS SWX:UBSG lifted its STOXX 600 target for 2026 to 690 from 630, putting it roughly 7.5% above where the index traded late Friday morning. Strategists Gerry Fowler and Sutanya Chedda pointed to stronger revisions in AI, banks and some defensive names. The outlook, they said, was “not a call for euphoria” but “a call for less caution.” Investing.com
But that breadth could shrink fast. The U.S. and Iran launched new attacks, and Brent crude was last around $75.94 a barrel, up from about $72 before the conflict. Higher oil helps energy profits but also means higher costs for airlines and people at the pump, stoking inflation worries again. If chips retreat further or the easyJet deal stumbles, the main index would track closer to the broader market.
With Friday’s session done, investors now have to see if stocks beyond ASML can keep gains when Wall Street opens, and wait on whether the next set of results backs up profit growth outside energy and AI. For now, a flat read in the STOXX 600 doesn’t say much about Europe’s market.
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