By Shashwat Chauhan

(Reuters) – Europe's STOXX 600 fell on Friday, dragged by technology and healthcare stocks, keeping the index on track for its fourth successive weekly drop.

The pan-European STOXX 600 benchmark index slipped 0.5%, hovering near a three-month low hit earlier this week.

The technology sub-index dropped 1.7%, with chipmaker ASML (AS:ASML) among top decliners, after U.S. firm Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) forecast first-quarter revenue below estimates, a sign of sluggish demand for the chipmaking equipment outside of AI-powered chips.

Healthcare stocks shed 2.1%, with Bavarian Nordic (CSE:BAVA) sliding 17% after the Danish biotech firm posted a lower-than-expected core profit for the third quarter, 2025 orders below expectations.

European vaccine makers came under pressure after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he has selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) fell 2.9%, while GSK lost 2.2%.

The Swiss benchmark, which houses the bulk of European healthcare firms, declined 0.8%.

European equities were rocked this week as investors fretted over U.S.-China relations after Trump was expected to tap a China hawk to be his secretary of state, while some downbeat earnings throughout this week also compounded losses.

A lower close on Wall Street overnight also weighed on sentiment, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank does not need to rush to lower interest rates.

"The post-election rally paused for breath, with the latest Fed comments on the economy stopping the surge in its tracks," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at online investment platform interactive investor.

Elsewhere, Britain's economy contracted unexpectedly in September and growth slowed to a crawl over the third quarter.

Consumer prices in France rose 1.6% year on year in October, revising slightly up its preliminary reading of 1.5%, while Italian EU-harmonised consumer prices (HICP) rose 0.3% month on month in October and were up 1.0% from a year earlier.

Among individual stocks, Evotec jumped close to 20% after Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) said it has proposed to buy the German drug developer for about 2 billion euros ($2.11 billion).

Generali (BIT:GASI) advanced 5.5%, after Italy's top insurer beat estimates for nine-month profits despite a 930 million euro hit from natural disasters.

($1 = 0.9471 euros)