A selloff in U.S. technology stocks spread, dragging down shares from South Korea to the Netherlands. The British pound fluctuated as investors assessed the impact from the U.K.’s political turmoil. Samsung Electronics Co., ASML Holding NV and Tencent Holdings Ltd. led declines among technology companies in Europe and Asia. U.S. stock futures fell after the Nasdaq 100 sank 2.4 percent on Friday. Sterling swung after the biggest drop in eight months as Prime Minister Theresa May struggled to keep power in the wake of Thursday’s election. Oil fell, reversing earlier gains. The rout in U.S. tech stocks began when Robert Boroujerdi, global chief investment officer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., warned that low volatility in Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. may be blinding investors to risks such as cyclicality and regulation. The declines prompted a re-evaluation among some bulls after the stocks’ market value increased by $500 billion since December and helped send global equities to record levels. “There’s a chance U.S. internet technology stocks that have propelled a global stock rally will now serve as a buzz kill,” said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Japan Asia Securities in Tokyo. Investors are watching for repercussions from last week’s elections. Some of May’s most senior ministers are working to moderate her plans for a hard Brexit. Brexit Secretary David Davis defended May, saying in an ITV interview it’s “the height of self-indulgence” to talk of dislodging her as prime minister. Traders are also weighing France’s parliamentary elections, where the first round showed President Emmanuel Macron’s party headed for a majority. The drama in Washington continues this week after fired FBI director James Comey’s testimony on Thursday. Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee to answer questions about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. On top of that, traders face central bank decisions, with the Fed expected to raise interest rates at the conclusion of their two-day meeting. Here’s what investors will be facing this week:
  • Theresa May will address the 1922 Committee of rank-and-file Tory lawmakers on Monday, in a meeting that will test her chances of staying in office.
  • Fed policy makers are forecast to raise their benchmark interest rate for the second time this year on Wednesday. Central banks in Japan and Britain are also scheduled to weigh in with policy decisions this week.
Here are the main moves in markets: Stocks
  • The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.5 percent as of 8:18 a.m. in London, with ASML Holding dropping 3.4 percent.
  • Japan’s Topix was little changed, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.5 percent, weighed down by declines in Fast Retailing Co. and SoftBank Group Corp. 
  • South Korea’s Kospi lost 1 percent, with Samsung slumping 1.6 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.1 percent, as Tencent Holdings fell 2.2 percent.
  • The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.6 percent, after a four-day rally.
  • Markets in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines are closed for holidays.
  • S&P 500 Index futures slipped 0.1 percent. The benchmark gauge fell 0.1 percent on Friday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.8 percent. Apple sank 3.9 percent, while Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet all lost more than 2 percent.
Currencies
  • The pound was flat at $1.2741, after falling as much as 0.3 percent and gaining as much as 0.2 percent earlier in the day. The currency lost 1.6 percent on Friday. 
  • The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1208.
  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after gaining 0.5 percent over the previous three sessions.
  • The South Korean won dropped 0.4 percent. The yen was steady at 110.28 per dollar, after three days of declines.
Bonds 
  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries headed higher for a fourth day, advancing two basis points to 2.22 percent.
  • U.K. benchmark yields were flat, after dropping three basis points on Friday. French yields slipped two basis points while those in Germany were little changed.
Commodities
  • West Texas crude dropped 0.2 percent to $45.76 a barrel, reversing an earlier gain that came after Saudi Arabia and Russia sought to reassure investors that coordinated production cuts by OPEC and its partners are draining a global glut. Oil slumped almost 4 percent last week amid an unexpected increase in U.S. stockpiles. 
  • Gold was little changed at $1,266.49 an ounce, after three days of declines.