FRANKFURT/NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) - Shares from the European semiconductor sector were unable to keep up with the continuing good market environment on Friday. While the Dax continued its recent rally with a rise of 0.6 percent, Infineon shares lagged behind with a 0.9 percent drop in the leading German index. In Paris, shares in STMicroelectronics were also unable to keep pace with the rising overall market, gaining just 0.2 percent.

Negative news from the tech sector came from the USA and the Far East. In New York, Applied Materials' share price slumped by 7.7 percent - not because of the figures presented, which according to traders actually exceeded expectations, but because of a media report. According to the report, the chip company is being investigated in the USA for allegedly violating export restrictions to China.

The tech sector generally lagged behind the overall market on Friday, as the Stoxx Europe 600 Technology sector index shows. With a rise of 0.3 percent, it was the laggard on the sector chart in the morning. Poor sector sentiment from Hong Kong also dampened interest due to a ten percent slump in Alibaba's share price. Market strategist Stephen Innes from asset manager SPI Asset Management saw a negative surprise in the fact that the online group does not want to spin off its cloud business after all.

With regard to Applied Materials, Bernstein expert Stacy Rasgon noted that the fourth quarter was good. However, the news agency Reuters had got in the way of this with a circular report on the US investigations. According to Tammy Qiu from Berenberg Bank, it is difficult to predict the outcome of the case. The same applies to the question of whether other companies in the sector may also be affected. In general, there is increased uncertainty surrounding future deliveries to China.

On a negative note, an analysis by the major Swiss bank UBS concludes that chip inventories are continuing to rise at a time of mixed price trends. Analyst Francois-Xavier Bouvignies concluded: "In view of the current macroeconomic situation and low demand, we assume that high inventories could lead to a further correction." The impact on pricing is of decisive importance in this context./tih/ag/jha/