* STOXX 600 down 1 pct
* Tech sector falls 1.6 pct
* Chipmakers STMicro, Infineon, ams tumble
* Sodexo drops on downgrade
* Mediaset jumps after Sky deal(Updates prices, adds details, quotes)
By Helen Reid
The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1 percent, while
The tech sector dropped 1.6 percent, weighed bychipmakers after an overnight report that Apple plans to replaceIntel chips in Macs with its own.
The index has fallen 8 percent in the past three weeks asanxiety grew over big tech companies with the focus onFacebook's use of data, and regulation of Amazon.
Reports of Apple increasingly going down the "insourcing"route have dented shares in Apple suppliers around the world,most notably
On Tuesday, STMicro led fallers, down 3 percent,while ams declined 2.7 percent and Infineon fell 2.4percent.
Risk appetite was poor across the board, as Europeaninvestors followed
"We believe that risk-reward for stocks has not turnedmedium-term negative, and would be adding at these levels,"wrote JP Morgan strategists in a note.
Equities have again entered "oversold" territory, they said,adding, however, that headwinds for technology stocks wereincreasing.
Outside the tech sector, food services group Sodexowas the worst-performer on the STOXX, down 3.8 percentafter Goldman Sachs (GS) cut the stock to "neutral". Sodexo hadalready suffered a 15.7 percent decline after warning on profitin the previous session.
"We now see the pick-up of competitive pressures is unlikelyto go away in the short term, while company profit continues tosuffer from intensifying labour inflation in the region," GSanalysts wrote.
Air
Acquisition news also continued to move the European market.
Eurofins Scientific shares fell 2.9 percent, theworst performers on the STOXX, after the firm acquired LabFrontier in
Liberum analysts called the deal a "win-win".
"This agreement should be a TV advertising revenue boosteras it creates larger audiences," they wrote.
Berenberg upgraded Mediaset to a "buy", saying the dealmarked a "step change in profitability".
Basic resources and oil and gas stocks were a rare brightspot, making gains as metals prices rose.
(Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Kit Rees and Mark Potter)