LONDON — European stocks started the trading week in negative territory as concerns over artificial intelligence and volatility in precious metals haunted global markets.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.7% lower shortly after the opening bell, with sectors in mixed territory. Mining stocks led the losses, with Europe's basic resources index down 3.3% — its biggest daily drop in nearly 10 months. Mining stocks Glencore and Anglo American shed 4% and 3.3% respectively.
All major bourses also opened lower. The U.K.'s FTSE index, Germany's DAX, and France's CAC 40 were all down over 0.5%.
European semiconductor stocks were also lower. Chip giant ASML was near the bottom of Stoxx 600, down 4%. Be Semiconductor and ASM International were down 4% and 3.7%, respectively.
The sharp declines in Europe on Monday come amid similar moves in global markets.
Silver, which has more than doubled over the past 12 months, plunged around 30% on Friday. That marked the metal's worst one-day performance since 1980. Spot gold lost around 4.5% to $4,648 per ounce on Monday, and silver was last seen down 6.5% at $79 per ounce.
Spot gold and spot silver prices over the last three months
Asia-Pacific markets fell overnight with South Korean benchmarks leading declines, as investors monitored gold and silver prices after Friday's sharp declines. Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures fell on Sunday night as traders kept an eye on bitcoin after a weekend sell-off.
Bitcoin on Saturday dropped below $80,000 for the first time since April, a sign investors were taking more risk off the table following Friday's sharp declines in precious metals.
Wall Street also turned its attention to Nvidia as questions over the artificial intelligence boom loomed. Nvidia's plans to pour $100 billion into OpenAI have stalled, with chipmaker execs expressing doubt about the deal, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Earnings in Europe come from Julius Baer Group today, while German retail sales and Spanish new car sales are due data-wise.
— CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this market report.
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