European stock markets slide amid semiconductor rotation, Easyjet shares jump

European equity indices opened lower on Monday as investors continued rotating out of semiconductor stocks. The DAX held near 25,800 points while the Euro‑Stoxx‑50 slipped about 0.2%, both after briefly reaching record highs. Semiconductor names fell, with Infineon down 1.8%, Aixtron 0.6%, ASML 1.5%, STMicroelectronics 1.3% and BE Semiconductor 6.7%, following reports that Samsung Foundry has delayed its 1.4‑nm chip production schedule.

London‑listed Easyjet surged roughly 10% after the airline’s revised capital‑raising proposal cleared its fifth attempt and now faces only formal regulatory approval. The move was highlighted alongside other stock‑specific actions, such as a modest uplift for Schott Pharma after a Deutsche Bank upgrade and mixed reactions for Continental and Merck KGaA.

Traders are awaiting the US ISM Service Index later in the day, a key labor‑market gauge, while weaker US employment data and lower energy prices have softened bets on further Federal Reserve rate hikes. The German Sentix confidence index remains in negative territory, and market breadth is shifting away from heavily weighted AI‑related equities toward health, industrial and financial sectors, though the recovery in those areas is not yet deemed sufficient for a full rotation.