|
Europe markets still weak
|
 |
October 25, 1999: 10:12 a.m. ET
Bourses bounce off session lows as investors dump heavyweight stocks
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - European stock markets bounced off session lows despite a weak opening on Wall Street Monday though they remained firmly in the red as investors bailed out of heavyweight banking and telecom shares.
London's FTSE 100 fell below 6,000 at one point -- 100 points below its session high -- before recovering to trade down 48 points, or 0.8 percent, at 6,011.10 shortly after New York opened with an 80-point slide in the Dow Jones industrial average.
The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was 1 percent lower at 5,303.98 after losing a promising early advance.
The CAC 40 in Paris held on to gains for the longest of the major markets before sliding back to trade down 14 points at 4,663.63.
Zurich's SMI was 0.8 percent lower at 6,824.50.
The FTSE Eurotop 300, a pan-European index of the largest pan-European stocks, was down 0.75 percent. Deal news helped lift aerospace stocks by 4.2 percent while most other sectors were flat or weaker. Mining stocks fell 2 percent and oil and gas stocks slipped 1.4 percent.
The euro slipped to $1.0690, dipping after Germany posted a higher-than-expected rise in consumer price inflation, according to preliminary data for October.
Falls in heavyweight oil, banking and telecom stocks pulled London back, with BP Amoco (BP-A) off 1.9 percent, British Telecommunications (BT-A) down 2.9 percent, and a 2.1 percent dip in Barclays Bank (BRAC) reflecting the general tone.
Rolls-Royce (RR) helped limit the losses as it soared 10.7 percent after German automaker BMW (FBMW) revealed plans to raise its stake in Rolls from 2 percent to 10 percent. BMW shares were narrowly ahead.
Telewest (TWT) reversed the general trend among telecoms to advance almost 5 percent after recent weakness.
British Aerospace (BA) added 3 percent after the Airbus Industrie consortium, in which it has a 20 percent stake, won a $2.5 billion aircraft order from China.
Advertising company WPP (WPP) rose 3.1 percent after reporting a 14 percent rise in third-quarter revenue.
British American Tobacco (BATS) was up 3.6 percent, partially rebounding from last week's heavy losses after U.S. rival Philip Morris suffered a setback in an anti-smoking liability suit in a U.S. court.
Hanson (HNS) rose 4 percent after an upgrade from Salomon Smith Barney.
British Airways (BAY) was the largest decliner, off more than 5 percent amid concern about overcapacity and the planned alliance between archrivals British Midland and Lufthansa (FLHA).
Insurer Allianz (FALV) was the largest decliner in Frankfurt, losing 3.1 percent, while fellow heavyweight Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) lost 2.4 percent.
Mannesmann (FMMW) recovered 1.6 percent after heavy losses in the wake of last week's $36 billion bid for Britain's third-largest mobile-phone operator, Orange (ORA), whose own stock added 0.4 percent.
DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) was flat ahead of its third-quarter earnings Tuesday.
HypoVereinsbank (FHVB) recovered an early loss to trade narrowly ahead after announcing the result of an internal audit into restructuring charges taken earlier this year.
Schneider Electronics (PSU) was the best performer in Paris, rising 3 percent on renewed speculation of a bid from Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB, whose own shares rose 0.5 percent.
Aérospatiale-Matra gained 2 percent and Thomson-CSF (PHO) gained 2.5 percent after the aerospace groups teamed up to take a 20 percent stake in Brazilian rival Embraer.
Construction group Lafarge (PLG) led the Paris decliners as it shed 3 percent while telecom manufacturer Alcatel (PALS) fell 2.5 percent.
Trade inspection group SGS was the main casualty in Zurich, losing 3.4 percent after a series of management disagreements rocked the company.
Swisscom lost 1 percent. 
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
