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Monday blues hit Europe
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December 14, 1998: 5:58 a.m. ET
Weak Dow and Asian markets knock indexes amid concerns over earnings
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LONDON (CNNfn) - European markets opened down Monday after Asian markets fell overnight and the dollar weakened. Traders were expecting volatility amid dwindling trading volumes ahead of the launch of the single European currency in January.
In London, the FTSE-100 fell 46.3 points or 0.84 percent to 5,495.4.
Frankfurt's Xetra DAX index was down 44.39 points at 4,498.63.
In Paris, the CAC-40 lost 37.4 points or 1 percent at 3,658.3.
In Zurich, the SSMI lost 0.26 percent at 6,644.9.
Japan drove the declines. The Nikkei lost over 2 percent overnight and the dollar fell to a five-year low against the yen. The Bank of Japan quarterly survey of business sentiment showed confidence was worse than expected.
New York had offered little cheer. The Dow closed down 19.82 points at 8,821.76 Friday and traders were worried over the growing threat of impeachment facing President Bill Clinton.
In Paris, drinks group LVMH (PMC) was off over 2 percent at 1,049 francs. Thomson-CSF (PHO) lost 1.8 percent at 224.8 francs. Chemicals group Air Liquide (PAI) was down 1.24 percent at 953 francs.
In London, Shell Transport & Trading (SHEL), the London-listed share of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell was up over 1 percent at 358 pence ahead of a presentation to analysts. The group is expected to disclose asset writedowns as it tackles the crisis afflicting the industry, beset by weak crude prices.
British Aerospace (BA.) gained 2.6 percent at 515 pence on the back of its talks with rivals Daimler Chrysler Aerospace of Germany. Electronics group General Electric Company (GEC) lost 0.74 percent at 535 pence despite suggestions it is also considering taking part in the deal.
National Grid (NGG), the electricity transmission group, lost 6.5 pence at 491.5 pence after announcing a $4.6 billion merger with US power group New England Electric System (NES).
In Germany, shares in Deutsche Bank (FDBK) were down over 1 percent at 90.70 marks following reports it is eyeing up Otelo, the cable television joint venture owned by RWE (FRWE) and Veba (FVEB). Engineer Siemens (FSIE) was down just over two percent at 100.25 marks. Car maker Volkswagen (FVOW) was down just under 2 percent at 117.25.
In Zurich airline operator, Sair Group gained 2.5 percent at 318 francs. 
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