LONDON (Reuters) - European shares retreated on Wednesday morning as a new batch of corporate updates prompted fresh concerns, particularly on the tech sector, and added to worries about a global growth slowdown and the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.
At 0819 GMT, the STOXX 600 (STOXX) was down 0.5 percent, with bourses all across Europe losing ground and a number of steep individual falls at the open.
A profit warning by Ingenico (PA:INGC) sent the French payment group down over 12 percent and hit the whole European tech sector (SX8P), which retreated 0.9 percent.
Still in the sector, ASML Holding NV (AS:ASML), a major supplier to the world's largest computer chipmakers, fueled more concerns and caution among investors as it warned first-quarter sales would be weak, with some of its customers delaying orders into the second half of 2019.
A profit miss by Metro Bank (L:MTRO) triggered a spectacular 27 percent fall and gave no respite to a banking sector already weakened during the previous session by Swiss bank UBS's (S:UBSG) fourth-quarter earnings report.
European retailers were in a much more comfortable spot and trading in the black after supermarket groups Carrefour (PA:CARR) and Ahold Delhaize (AS:AD) posted their trading update and gained 5.4 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.