Europe midday: Shares down as rising oil prices, bond yields weigh
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Wednesday 19 Aug 2026
(Sharecast News) - European equity markets were lower on Wednesday, tracking weaker US and Asian bourses as rising bond yields and oil prices weighed on sentiment along with another sell-off in tech stocks over artificial intelligence investment levels.
The benchmark Stoxx 600 index was down 0.08% to 651 at 1049 GMT with most continental exchanges lower. Germany's DAX, Italy's MIB, the UK's FTSE 100 and Spain's IBEX were down between 0.10% and 0.20%. France's CAC outperformed with a 0.30% gain.
US stocks finished in the red on Tuesday, with weakness in the tech sector weighing on the Nasdaq Composite, as rising bond yields sapped investors' appetite for risk.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.3% to settle at 26,289.71, its lowest since 3 August after a three-session losing streak. The Dow finished 0.2% lower, while the S&P 500 fell 0.7%.
Treasury yields were in focus again, with the 30‑year Treasury yield briefly hitting 5.333%, a level not seen for almost two decades after touching its highest point since June 2007 on Monday. The 10-year yield hit 4.704% while the two-year yield was at 4.171% - both at multi-year highs.
"There is an increasing throng of those questioning the extraordinary levels of investment being ploughed into AI and all its associated offshoots, such as power equipment and data centres. Equally, the return on such capital spending may be beginning to emerge, but it is far too early to call whether the ultimate revenues will be sufficient," said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter.
"This theme was echoed in Asia overnight with South Korea at the eye of the storm, with the Kospi index falling by more than 5% due to weakness in its two largest constituents, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which fell by 7% and 8% respectively."
Oil prices rose as the US and Iran showed no real willingness to end their war. Brent crude was up 1.14% to $92 and West Texas Intermediate 1.31% to $86.
In equity news, shares in Geberit jumped as the Swiss plumbing materials maker reported better-than-expected second quarter results.
Straumann fell despite first-half revenues beating estimates.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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