2026.02.0208:34:15UTC+00European Stocks Kick Off February in the Red

At the beginning of February, the STOXX 50 experienced a decline of 0.7% while the STOXX 600 decreased by 0.5%, mirroring a global market downturn characterized by a general shift away from risk as commodity prices plummeted and renewed concerns emerged regarding the high valuations in the AI sector. Speculation that Kevin Warsh, recently nominated as the chair of the Federal Reserve, might implement a more stringent monetary policy contributed to downward pressure on the dollar and exerted additional stress on commodity markets. Concurrently, The Wall Street Journal highlighted a setback in Nvidia's proposed $100 billion investment in OpenAI, as executives within the company expressed skepticism about the transaction. The mining and oil sectors were particularly affected, with companies such as ASML dropping nearly 3%, and Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, Rio Tinto, and Infineon each seeing declines of more than 2%. Conversely, Nestlé appreciated by 1%, Allianz increased by 1.1%, and Unilever rose by 2.2%.