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Bourses drift in late session
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August 27, 1999: 10:26 a.m. ET
European markets hold narrow gains as profit takers move in to consolidate
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LONDON (CNNfn) - European markets drifted in afternoon trade Friday following a modest opening gain on Wall Street as investors consolidated firm gains on the major bourses over the previous four sessions.
The FTSE 100 in London remained narrowly ahead after dipping into the red in morning trade, with the benchmark up 10 points, or 0.15 percent, at 6,393.50.
Germany's Xetra Dax was firmer in afternoon trade, up 24 points, or 0.45 percent, at 5,413.58.
The CAC 40 in Paris lost half of its earlier gains, trading up 16 points, or 0.34 percent, at 4,645.24.
Swiss blue chips wiped out their earlier losses, with the SMI up 22 points at 7,164.0. Among smaller markets, Madrid was up 1.2 percent while Amsterdam was flat.
The FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of pan-European shares, was flat but reflected the trends in profit taking. Oil, steel, drug and chemical shares all fell back while utility and auto stocks made firm gains.
The FTSE in London drifted ahead of the market holiday Monday following a 3.2 percent gain in the previous four sessions. Retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS) made the largest advance, up 5.8 percent as it prepared to unveil its autumn clothing range.
Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed International (REED) jumped 5.6 percent amid perceptions that the stock was undervalued.
British Aerospace (BA) suffered the only serious stumble, down 2.8 percent on profit taking.
In Frankfurt, Lufthansa (FLHA) led the decliners with a 2.2 percent fall blamed on profit taking. Auto stocks were the best performers, with BMW (FBMW) leading the pack with a 3.8 percent gain after a broker's upgrade.
Paris was again buoyed by the strong performance of retail stocks, with Carrefour (PCA) up 2.9 percent and Casino (PCO) gaining 2.4 percent.
In Zurich, Swisscom slipped 0.9 percent despite beating expectations with a 6 percent rise in net profit for the first six months to 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($783 million).
Drug giant Novartis was off 0.6 percent after announcing a share buyback worth 4 billion Swiss francs. 
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