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Bourses trend down again
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December 10, 1998: 12:51 p.m. ET
U.K. rate cut is overshadowed by succession of earnings woes
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LONDON (CNNfn) - European markets headed lower again Thursday, although they continued to move in tiny steps. A bigger-than- expected rate cut in the U.K. had little effect.
The Bank of England did what industry leaders and economists had been telling it to do and reduced rates by 50 basis points Thursday. London's stock market reacted with disdain, though. ABN Amro's U.K. strategist, Gareth Williams, said corporate earnings were the main driving force in the market at the moment.
By the London close New York's Dow Jones industrial average was in negative territory and looking to head lower, exerting more pressure on European bourses.
In London, the FTSE 100 closed the session at 5,660.3, down just 8.8 points.
Indexes in Frankfurt and Paris were also almost unmoved. The Xetra DAX dipped 26.27 points to close at 4,650.3, and France's CAC 40 eased 25.64 points to close at 3,746.97.
Selling in Zurich carried a little more weight, but the blue-chip index slipped just 1.7 percent, or 115.1 points, to close at 6,699.1.
On the corporate front there were a number of shocks across the continent, with Sweden's Ericsson leading the way. Shares of the cellular phone equipment maker collapsed by almost a quarter after it warned that full-year earnings would be below market expectations. By the close, Ericsson shares were down 20 percent at 199 Swedish krone.
Rival Nokia was caught in the shock wave, although its stock fared better and slid only 3 percent to 536.9 Finnish markka.
In London, china manufacturer Royal Doulton (RDN) got smashed after it announced a massive restructuring. The shares tumbled 14 percent to 71 pence.
Oil major Shell (SHEL), which surged on merger talk Wednesday, quickly had the wind taken out of its sails. New lows for oil prices brought the stock back 2 percent to 361 pence.
The market showed it hadn't totally lost its taste for speculative stories though. Telecom fledglings Energis (EGS) and Colt Telecom (CTM) continued to make heady gains, despite recent rises. Energis rocketed 8 percent to 1,335 pence and Colt -- controlled by U.S. fund management group Fidelity -- rose 6 percent to 926 pence.
In Paris, Alcatel (PCGE) suffered from Ericsson's hammering, although the French group claimed its business wasn't affected. The market took little heed, sending Alcatel shares plunging more than 7 percent to 665 francs.
BNP (FBNP) made headway after management said profit would rise this year. The shares pared early gains though, to end the session at 440 francs, up just 1 percent.
In Frankfurt, investors were adjusting their portfolios in the banking sector. That meant Dresdner Bank (FDRB) gained 2 marks to 70.5 marks, but HypoVereinsbank slipped 6 marks to 131.9 marks.
Basel-based specialty chemicals makers Clariant and Ciba received a relatively warm reception on the Zurich exchange after they canceled their merger plans late Wednesday.
Clariant gained 6 francs to 619 francs and Ciba was flat at 115 francs.
The real action was in second-liner Danzas, which received a bid from Deutsche Post. Danzas stock soared 147 francs to 582 francs.
Bank CS Group tumbled 7 percent to 199 francs, and UBS eased 5 francs to 192 francs as the financial sector fell out of favor. 
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