European stock markets declined on Tuesday, as a global wave of selling in tech shares that began in South Korea sparked broader risk-aversion sentiment across equities.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell as much as 1.3% during the session before paring losses, closing down 0.7% in London. Puma shares plunged 6% following cautious analyst commentary regarding the company's second-quarter sales.

Compared to other markets, the declines in Europe were relatively moderate. South Korea's Kospi index tumbled 10% from its record high, triggering a circuit breaker. Market sentiment was dampened by local media reports indicating that SK Hynix is slowing its expansion of AI memory chip production capacity and shifting focus to lower-cost standard DRAM products.