LONDON (ShareCast) - Technology hardware and equipment stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off on UK equity markets on Friday, following the trend seen on Wall Street after heavy falls on the Nasdaq Composite the previous session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.1% on Thursday, its sharpest single-day percentage loss since late 2011, as investors continued to rotate out of so-called ‘momentum’ stocks – high-growth names in the technology sectors, particularly - which have performed well over recent months.

Concerns about steep valuations going into the new earnings season have prompted traders to scale back their appetite for risk.

Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital said: "With earnings season in the US underway, tech company earnings will be under intense scrutiny with investors likely to dump their tech stocks on even the faintest sign of bad news out of a company."

With sentiment surrounding the sector having taken a hit, chip designers ARM Holdings and Imagination Technologies were heavy fallers in London today.

Set-top box maker Pace, which has jumped by over 50% over the past six months, was also sold off sharply. Others in the sector were also trading in the red, including CSR, Nanaco and IQE.


Top performing sectors so far today
Aeronautics and Defence NULL 0.00%
Alternative Energy 8,888.00 0.00%
Alternative Investment Instruments NULL 0.00%
Automotive and Parts NULL 0.00%
Banking NULL 0.00%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,148.45 -4.75%
Financial Services 7,852.19 -2.86%
Travel & Leisure 7,131.12 -2.53%
Health Care Equipment & Services 5,004.34 -2.42%
Forestry & Paper 10,722.89 -2.40%

BC

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