(Update: prices and further details)

FRANKFURT/SEOUL/NEW YORK/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The recovery attempt by global semiconductor stocks stalled on Tuesday. On Friday, a wave of profit-taking had swept through the sector, primarily in New York, before reaching Asia on Monday. However, at the start of the week, investors had already begun to use the discounted prices as a buying opportunity. Now, another setback has followed, particularly on the US Nasdaq exchange.

The previous evening, US industry peers such as Marvell Technology, Micron, and Intel had launched a spirited recovery in New York. On South Korea's tech-heavy exchange, the benchmark Kospi index more or less recouped its loss of over eight percent from the start of the week on Tuesday. Shares of industry giant SK Hynix surged by nearly eleven percent in Seoul. In the US, however, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 quickly turned sharply into the red on Tuesday after a strong start.

Consequently, European industry stocks also reversed course and retreated significantly: led by Infineon, which ultimately lost 3.3 percent on the Dax. The German benchmark index shed a good 0.7 percent. Equipment suppliers such as Aixtron, Suss, or PVA Tepla also slid downwards, as did shares of European players ASML and STMicroelectronics.

'Sentiment in the technology sector is nervous but remains optimistic,' wrote market observer Andreas Lipkow from broker CMC Markets before the US market open. However, he also pointed to several issues likely to cause investor restraint. 'In the near term, the market faces some heavy lifting that will be difficult to overcome. Alongside central bank meetings, three mega-IPOs are on the horizon, which will drain liquidity from the markets.'

Investors are expecting a rate hike from the European Central Bank as early as Thursday, and the US Federal Reserve could also tighten the monetary screws next week. A surprisingly robust US jobs report had triggered interest rate fears before the weekend. Meanwhile, the IPO of SpaceX scheduled for this Friday could put the AI rally to a severe test and divert venture capital into other channels. AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI are also venturing onto the trading floor.

However, many experts do not see the overarching AI boom in jeopardy. 'Currently, there is much to suggest that the pace of AI development continues to be underestimated,' commented analyst Hagen Ernst from asset manager DJE Kapital. He noted that the demand for AI computing capacity and the monetization of AI applications are crucial. As long as available capacities remain insufficient, he expects the trend to persist - with the greatest bottlenecks occurring in memory chips and power capacity.

In addition to chipmakers, memory manufacturers have long benefited from this development, but more recently, so has the broader circle of IT infrastructure, extending to networks. In contrast, software stocks remain under pressure due to concerns that AI could threaten their business models. SAP, for instance, lost 2.2 percent on Tuesday.

Infineon shares had gained the previous day after the research firm Arete stood out from the analyst crowd with a triple-digit price target. Expert Jim Fontanelli believes the German chip group could rise to 114 euros due to its AI revenue potential, which currently promises an increase of over 50 percent - even though the share price has already doubled year-to-date despite the recent pullback./tih/la/stk/niw/jha/