Credit: Shutterstock photo* Apple revenue warning revives concerns over Chinese growth
* AMS and STMicro sink; Luxury stocks tumble
* Adecco, Randstad fall on downgrade
* Next climbs after encouraging Christmas trading (Adds quotes, charts, shares)
By Helen Reid and Julien Ponthus
LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Apple's first sales warning innearly 12 years sent European shares sliding on Thursday, withthe tech sector particularly badly bruised as chipmakers thatsupply the iPhone maker fell sharply.
The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX fell 0.9 percent as weakU.S. manufacturing data added to nerves over slowing globalgrowth.
Apple'sFrankfurt-listed shares AAPL.F fell 9.4 percentafter the tech giant cut its sales forecast, blaming weakeriPhone sales in China, whose economy has been hit by a trade warwith the U.S..
"What the market is wrestling with is whether it isindicative of a wider malaise in perhaps both the world economyand China," said Peter Rutter, head of global equities at RoyalLondon Asset Management.
Europe's tech sector .SX8P sank, falling 4.2 percent, onlya few points short of its worst daily performance since theBrexit vote in June 2016.
Chipmakers that supply parts to Apple were the worst hit.Shares in AMS AMS.S , which provides facial recognition sensorsused in the latest iPhones, fell 23.1 percent to the bottom ofthe STOXX.
Other big losers included STMicroelectronicsSTM.MI , down11.6 percent, Dialog SemiconductorDLGS.DE , off 9.7 percentand LogitechLOGN.S , which was down 5.8 percent.
Luxury goods shares, which are also highly sensitive tosigns of slowing demand in China, joined the selloff.
LVMH LVMH.PA , Gucci owner KeringPRTP.PA and BurberryBRBY.L were down between 3.8 percent and 5.9 percent.
Elsewhere, staffers AdeccoADEN.S and RandstadRAND.AS fell 5.2 percent and 6.8 percent respectively after a ratingdowngrade by Credit Suisse. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1Z33LV
Among rare gainers, Next NXT.L shares rose 4.1 percent after the clothing retailer reported a rise in sales in therun-up to Christmas in line with its expectations. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1Z30SE
For a graphic on Apple's results click: http://tmsnrt.rs/1WQvKWe
For a graphic on European companies with the highest Chinaexposure click: https://tmsnrt.rs/2Rjj4su
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Josephine Mason and Julien PonthusEditing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg, John Stonestreet and KirstenDonovan) ((Helen.Reid@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 0402;))The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
