(Bloomberg) — ASML Holding NV shares fell in the first few minutes of trading but quickly recovered, but traders blamed the unexpected decline on erroneous trades.
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Multiple stock traders say “fat fingers” – human error or even trades made by algorithms – may have been behind the initial stock price drop of as much as 7.1%. A Euronext SA spokesperson denied that was the cause and said no alerts were triggered on the pan-European exchange this morning.
After paring those losses, Europe’s most valuable tech companies fell again on concerns that higher-than-expected U.S. inflation could delay interest rate cuts. Shares fell 5% in afternoon trading in Amsterdam.
“ASML started the day with a big thumb, but the rebound also attracted sellers as the EU tech sector took profits,” said Mark Taylor, director at British broker Panmure Gordon. Ta.
While not uncommon in general, high-profile fat fingers like ASML are rare. ASML stock experienced high volatility in the early hours of trading, leading to trading being halted for three minutes.
In the first minute of the session, 28,558 shares traded between €858.20 and €815.60, with only 110 shares trading at the day’s low before the stock price was suspended. After the auction ended, trading resumed at 853.40 euros.
Despite Tuesday’s decline, ASML is up 22% year to date in 2024, giving it a market capitalization of 333 billion euros ($356 billion). The Stoxx 600 technology index, up 9.6% year-to-date, is trending lower for the first time in nine sessions after ending Monday at its highest in more than 23 years. The index fell by as much as 3.7% on Tuesday, making tech the worst-performing sector in Europe.
“I think the tech sector is simply taking profits today as the technicals point to overbought territory,” said Janet Mui, head of market analysis at RBC Brewin Dolphin. Ta.
Erroneous trades can be canceled, but there were no ASML cancellations as of midday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
–With assistance from Henry Ren, Allegra Catelli, and Jan-Patrick Barnert.
(Updates with comment from Euronext in second paragraph; adds US inflation data in third paragraph)
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