(Reuters) - European stocks fell slightly on Wednesday after weak earnings from US software giant Microsoft fueled fears about the future of the tech sector, while investors remained concerned about central banks not being close to halting the cycle of interest rate hikes.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell for the second day in a row and closed down 0.3 percent, but it rose from its lowest level in nearly two weeks, which it recorded earlier in the session.

The technology sector index, which has rebounded this year after significant difficulties over the past year, fell 0.4 percent after Microsoft expected revenue from cloud computing activities in the current quarter to come in below expectations.

"The weak outlook drawn by Microsoft affects the technology sector in general," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in London.

The STOXX 600 was also affected by the performance of the two sub-indices for the energy and industrial companies sectors, as they fell 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Stock markets have risen since the beginning of this year, thanks to hopes that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) and other major central banks have come close to stopping interest rate increases as inflation recedes.

However, those hopes were dashed in the past few days after messages in favor of continuing to raise interest rates from members of the European Central Bank, in addition to the improvement in economic activity in the euro area, which fueled speculation that this would pave the way for the central bank to raise interest rates.