European technology stocks fell on Friday and was on track for its biggest monthly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis as investors sold growth stocks in January amid concerns about an aggressive Federal Reserve tightening and mounting tensions in Ukraine.

A darling of the pandemic, Europe's technology sector, which had risen to their highest level in 21 years in November, slid 15% in January and were on course for its worst month since October 2008. At 0810 GMT, the index was down 1.2%.

European tech moved in January in tandem with the Nasdaq index in the United States, which also registered the worst month in more than 13 years.

Global tech stocks have been under pressure as investors have been more reluctant to pay hefty valuations for growth stocks, as the Fed said it will likely hike interest rates in March and reaffirmed plans to end its bond purchases that month in battle to tame inflation.

Mounting tensions between Russia and the U.S. over former Soviet country Ukraine also sent investors looking for safer assets. On Thursday, both sides said they kept the door open to further dialogue.

(Reporting by Joice Alves; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee)