(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 14 set - European shares closed lower with tech stocks leading losses after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and the heads of other AI companies called over the weekend for a slower pace of AI development, citing safety concerns.

Risk appetite was further dented by a renewed surge in oil prices as Middle East tensions escalated, with Brent crude trading above 108 dollars a barrel after Iran-backed Houthi forces seized territory near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

On the data front, the economic calendar thins out this week, leaving markets to digest the European Central Bank's rate hike last Thursday.

Investors are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday, with a hike seen as possible after strong jobs data and firm inflation figures.

The Bank of England and Bank of Japan are also due to announce policy decisions later in the week, with the BOE expected to hold and the BOJ expected to hike.

The London FTSE 100 closed up 0.44% at 10,697.57 points, the Frankfurt DAX shed 0.30% at 25,479.39 points, the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.76% at 8,117.78 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB lost 1.68% at 51,628.77 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35.

closed 1.34% lower at 19,573.31 points.

(RADIOCOR) 14-09-26 18:06:20 (0483) 5 NNNN