[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses mixed, while Semis slide as Anthropic pushes for slower AI development

European bourses are broadly lower to start the week, with Italy's FTSE MIB the underperformer, while the SMI and FTSE 100 print decent gains, helped by updates in the Pharma space (see more below). Sectors point to a mixed picture. Health Care tops the sector pile, with Optimised Personal Care and Food, Beverages & Tobacco rounding out the leaders. Tech leads the downside, followed by Basic Resources and Industrials. The overnight downside was driven by Anthropic CEO Amodei, urging a slowdown in the development of the most advanced AI systems to prevent AI from slipping beyond human control. The effect this has on semiconductors may be slower capex investment; however, Amodei insists that pacing AI capabilities will not necessarily translate into reduced spending or growth. As a result, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics slumped overnight (-6.4% and -4.1%, respectively), while ASML is currently down by 5.2%, while US behemoth NVIDIA slides by 2.5% pre-market. A typical Monday in terms of Pharma updates. The biggest came from AstraZeneca, announcing that its Phase 3 Serena 4 trial of Etcamah in combination with palbociclib did not meet the primary endpoint of progression-free survival in patients with breast cancer. According to Bloomberg, this could cut peak sales by as much as USD 3.8bln. Despite shares being indicated lower pre-market, they currently trade higher by 2.5%; one reason being that Astra also reported positive data for two lung cancer drugs. In other pharma updates, GSK (+3.5%) says its Phase III ARTEMIS-008 trial met its primary overall survival endpoint in relapsed small-cell lung cancer, while Roche's (+3.9%) Phase III TAISHAN-302 trial of Tam-Peli met its primary overall survival endpoint in relapsed small-cell lung cancer. US equity futures are lower across the board, with the NQ the laggard given the AI woes detailed above. Focus this week will be on the FOMC rate decision, with markets pricing in a 89% chance of a hike.