By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - European stocks closed Wednesday in the red as tech stocks saw steep declines.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.57%, or 3.11 points, to close at 541.84. The Stoxx 600's technology index was down 1.54%
Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.21% to 24,009.38 points, while the FTSE 100 index in London lost 0.13% to 8,926.55.
France's CAC 40 index was off 0.57% to 7,722.09 points and Italy’s FTSE MIB 30 was down 0.4% to 39,762.52.
The EU Commission proposed Wednesday that the EU's budget for 2028 - 2034 be €2 trillion ($2.32 trillion) and be flexible.
In total, of the €410 billion in the Competitiveness Fund, the budget will include €131 billion for defense and space spending.
On the data side, the euro area posted a foreign trade surplus of €16.2 billion ($18.8 billion) in May, up €12.7 billion year-on-year.
The UK’s annual inflation rate climbed to 3.6% in June, up from 3.4% in May, above expectations.
The euro/US dollar parity was up to 1.1639, up 0.32% as of 1800GMT.