European stocks sink on \\\'overvalued\\\' tech sector

LONDON, Apr 12 (AFP): European stock markets slid on Friday, joining a fierce global sell-off as investors took flight on resurgent fears about the 'overvalued' technology sector, dealers said.
In late morning deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 1.53 per cent to 6,540.57 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 retreated 1.92 per cent to 9,273.06 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index lost 1.64 per cent to 4,341.07.
European tech stocks were especially badly hit, with shares in German semiconductor giant Infineon diving 2.14 per cent to 8.09 euros in Frankfurt.
British chipmaker ARM Holdings plunged 5.03 per cent to 954 pence in London.
And Alcatel-Lucent, a leading global supplier of telecom equipment for the Internet, saw its stock slide 3.73 per cent to 2.71 euros in Paris.
US stocks followed Europe lower, opening sharply in the red on disappointing earnings from Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan Chase.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 112.39 points (0.70 per cent) to 16,057.83.
The broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 12.88 (0.70 per cent) to 1,820.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 43.71 (1.08 per cent) to 4,010.39.
Dow member JPMorgan slumped 4.7 per cent after first-quarter earnings of $5.3 billion fell 19 per cent from a year ago and missed expectations due to weak trading and mortgage results.