European equities retreat from 5-month high as tech, defence shares drag
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was down 0.4%, as of 0707 GMT, with most major bourses trading in the red.
Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab dipped 0.2% after data showed UK inflation rose to 3.8% in July, its highest since early 2024 and in line with the Bank of England's expectations.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington might provide air support to Ukraine as part of a peace deal, but ruled out putting troops on the ground.
Shares of defence-linked companies (.SXPARO), opens new tab dropped 1.5% in early trade. In the previous session, these stocks suffered their worst day in more than a month, pressured by news of a potential Ukraine-Russia summit, as hopes for de-escalation reduced demand for military-related assets.
Tech stocks (.SX8P), opens new tab dropped nearly 1% a day after U.S. technology stocks tumbled on concerns over an AI stock bubble and uncertainty around the interest rate outlook.
Among other stocks, Alcon (ALCC.S), opens new tab slumped 9.8% after the Swiss-American eye-care group cut its 2025 net sales outlook on expected impact of U.S. tariffs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Gavin Newsom strikes back against Trump's Texas redistricting plan with his own move to claw back congressional seats
Gavin Newsom celebrated taking a giant step forward retaliation toward the Donald Trump-endorsed redistricting of Texas but going all out on his recent social media impression of the president. In the past week, Newsom's press office has consistently put out tweets aping the bombastic and singular style of Trump in an attempt to show some fight back from an increasingly unpopular Democrat Party. A day after the Texas State House approved a redistricting plan Trump thinks will eventually lead to Republicans gaining 100 seats in Congress, Newsom signed a law allowing California voters to decide whether the blue state will do the same. The governor celebrated by trotting out his new social media impression yet again. 'WOW!!! MY MAPS (THE BEST MAPS EVER MADE) WILL SOON PASS IN THE GREATEST LEGISLATURE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD (NOT JUST AMERICA),' he wrote. He joked that the maps are 'BETTER THAN COLUMBUS, BETTER THAN GOOGLE MAPS, BETTER THAN APPLE MAPS (SORRY TIM, NO GOLD BAR FOR ME, BUT I STILL LOVE YOU!).' 'PEOPLE ARE ALREADY SCREAMING 'MAMA! MAMA!' AND I SAY, 'NO, I AM YOUR DADDY!!!' THE GOLDEN ERA BEGINS IN THE GOLDEN STATE, ALL BECAUSE OF ME, THE PEOPLE'S GOVERNOR, THE CARTOGRAPHER-IN-CHIEF, WHO WILL NOW LET THE PEOPLE VOTE!!! THANK YOU, USA!!! — GCN' California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for the special election. Newsom, who has led the campaign in favor of the map, then quickly signed it — the latest step in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle. 'This is not something six weeks ago that I ever imagined that I'd be doing,' Newsom said at a press conference, pledging a campaign for the measure that would reach out to Democrats, Republicans and independent voters. 'This is a reaction to an assault on our democracy in Texas.' Republicans, who have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan, promised to fight the measure at the ballot box as well. California Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Republican minority leader, said Trump was 'wrong' to push for new Republican seats elsewhere, contending the president was just responding to Democratic gerrymandering in other states. But he warned that Newsom's approach, which the governor has dubbed 'fight fire with fire,' was dangerous. 'You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens?' Gallagher asked. 'You burn it all down.' Trump celebrated victory in Texas in the early morning hours on Thursday as the GOP passed a new redistricting law that Trump says could put the party on a path to gaining 100 seats in Congress. The Texas House on Wednesday approved redrawn maps that would give the GOP a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through what critics called a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting. Trump not only celebrated the bill's passing on Truth Social, but spelled out his game plan for further Republican victories nationwide. 'Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!! Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself. Texas never lets us down,' he wrote. He then listed which states may go this route next: ' Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing. More seats equals less Crime, a great Economy, and a STRONG SECOND AMENDMENT. It means Happiness and Peace.' Trump said the next move is to, as he put it, 'STOP MAIL-IN VOTING, a total fraud that has no bounds' as well as instituting paper ballots. 'If we do these TWO things, we will pick up 100 more seats, and the CROOKED game of politics is over. God Bless America!!!' The maps, which would give Republicans five more winnable seats, are expected to to be approved by the GOP-controlled state Senate and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbott celebrated the passing of the bill by giving it a familiar nickname to many Trump fans. 'Congrats to the Texas House on passing the One Big Beautiful Map,' he wrote. 'It will make Texas, and Congress, a brighter shade of Red.' But the Texas House vote had presented the best chance for Democrats to derail the redraw. Democrats tried to resist by fleeing the state. In early August, 57 lawmakers skipped town, flying to Illinois and New York in a dramatic attempt to block the GOP's map vote. They then said that they were being treated like fugitives as they are threatened with arrest if they don't show up to the house to vote during a bitter redistricting fight that could hand Republicans and Donald Trump five extra seats in Congress. State troopers were ordered to shadow Democrats around the clock, even when they dropped their kids at school, to ensure they stayed for votes. Their forced presence gave the Texas House a quorum, the minimum number of lawmakers required to move legislation forward.
Daily Mail
21 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
White male Port of Seattle worker was best candidate for promotion...then a gay Asian woman applied, lawsuit alleges
An electrician working at the Port of Seattle has claimed he was passed over for promotion because he is a white, straight male - and a gay Asian woman had applied for the position. Lawyers representing Chris Linhardt, 50, argue in a lawsuit filed last month in King County Superior Court that he had been working in the port's electrical division and even served temporarily as its electrical foreman for several months in 2022. So when the Port sought to permanently fill the position the following year, Linhardt jumped at the opportunity. 'Plaintiff ranked highest in the first-round interview; nevertheless, management scheduled an unprecedented second-round interview,' the lawsuit claims. Another employee, an Asian woman who identifies as gay, was then allegedly coached by the head of maintenance - who served as an interview committee member. That created an 'unfair advantage' in the interview, Linhardt's attorneys argue. The other employee ultimately wound up receiving the foreman position, though Linhardt's lawyers say she had 'substantially less supervisory and hands-on experience.' 'Upon information and belief, Defendant's decision makers were motivated by Plaintiff's race, sex and/or sexual orientation in deciding not to promote him,' the lawsuit argues. 'Plaintiff alleges that Defendant favored promoting an individual with different demographic characteristics over Plaintiff because of these protected characteristics, rather than basing the decision solely on merit.' In doing so, Linhardt's lawyers say the port violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination, which bars discrimination on the basis of race, creed, national origin, marriage status, family status, sexual orientation, age and more at workplaces in the state. He is seeking damages from the lost compensation as well as from the emotional distress he has endured in the years since, plus attorney's fees. According to government records, Linhardt was receiving an annual salary of $115,066 in 2021, after several raises since he began working as a wireman in 2019, when he received nearly $10,000 less. The woman who received the promotion, meanwhile, received an annual salary of $132,267 in 2023. 'Plaintiff has experienced humiliation, indignity, frustration and anguish due to Defendant's discriminatory actions,' the suit claims. His lawyer, Vanessa Vanderbrug, told the Seattle Times her client is 'fully supportive, of course, of diversity in the workplace, but has concerns that the manner in which the Port is attempting to achieve those diversity ends is really not serving the entire workforce.' 'Our anti-discrimination laws are designed for the purpose of allowing individuals to be judged based on merit, not based upon skin color, sexual orientation or other immutable characteristics,' she noted. 'From my perspective, these laws are designed to protect us all - not simply traditional minority groups.' A spokesperson for the Port of Seattle, which manages both the seaport and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said it does not comment on personnel matters. However, attorneys representing the government agency have argued in court documents that while Linhardt was a qualified candidate, he was not the most qualified for the role. They argued that the Port of Seattle 'acted reasonably and in good faith.' The lawyers also claimed that Linhardt only received the highest score in the first-round interview 'due to a skewed rating by [Linhardt's] direct supervisor and friend.' The Port was then forced to conduct a second round of interviews over the concerns of potential bias, and the other employee ranked higher. The lawyers are now seeking to get the lawsuit dismissed.
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Anger in Italy over non-consensual photos of women shared online
Facebook has removed an Italian group which saw men sharing intimate images of often unsuspecting women with thousands of people Mia Moglie group, which translates to My Wife in English, had around 32,000 members before it was shut down this discovery has prompted outrage among Italians who are concerned about similar groups growing in its absence. Meta, which owns Facebook, said it closed the page "for violating our Adult Sexual Exploitation policies''. Screenshots taken before the Facebook group was removed appeared to show pictures of women in various states of undress, sometimes asleep or during intimate moments. Underneath the posts there were numerous sexually explicit comments from men. Some said they wanted to "rape" the woman while others praised the secretive nature of some of the photographs. The page was highlighted by the author Carolina Capria who posted online saying she felt "nauseous" and "scared" by what she saw. "This linking of violence to sexuality is so ingrained in our culture that in a public group, men write without hiding their names and faces," she added. Fiorella Zabatta from the European Greens party said on social media that it was "not just harmless fun", but was "virtual rape". "These platforms must be fought, this toxic idea of masculinity must be fought, and we all need to take action: civil society and politics too".Revenge porn, the sharing of sexually explicit images or videos which were intended to remain private, was made illegal in Italy in 2019. Italian media reports suggest more than a thousand people have already reported the group to the police unit which investigates cyber crime. Meta's statement added "we do not allow content that threatens or promotes sexual violence, sexual assault or sexual exploitation on our platforms". The discovery of the Italian facebook page has seen some draw parallels to France's Pelicot case. Last year, Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging, abusing and inviting strangers to rape his then wife Gisèle Pelicot. Despite being virtual, Capria said it showed that the Pelicot case was not an anomaly as in both instances, it showed "a man who believes he can control his wife, and for whom sexuality is inextricably linked to oppression".
