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Europe slips, techs rally
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April 17, 2000: 7:07 a.m. ET
Bourses buoyed by strong Wall Street open, but some question markets' move
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's top markets closed lower Monday, but sprang back from their lows as investors saw signs of rebound for Wall Street following its harrowing session last Friday. Top European high-tech stocks rallied amid a rebound early Monday for the U.S. Nasdaq composite.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 closed down 183.5 points, or 3 percent, at 5,994.6. Financial stocks drove the market lower, while top high-tech issues sprang back sharply from morning losses.
The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt fell 27.69 points, or 0.4 percent, at 7,187.14, dragged down by big-name banks. A solid debut for shares of Deutsche Telekom's Internet unit T-Online bolstered sentiment among German tech shares.
The CAC 40 in Paris just missed closing in the black, down 0.1 percent, or 5.17 points, at 6,060.54. The blue-chip index, made up of many tech, media and telecom shares, fell by as much as 5.2 percent early in the session.
Zurich's SMI dropped 164.8 points, or 2.2 percent, to 7,329.6.
European investors took heart after the Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.4 percent in early trading Monday following Friday's 9.7-percent plunge. The Dow Jones industrial average was up about one percent when Europe's leading markets closed.
FTSE Eurotop 300 index was 1.6 percent lower, with its tobacco and computer software sub-indexes on the upswing, while mining stocks fell. 
"This is a form of sucker's rally in the sense that looked like individuals
appear to be thinking they can get cheap stocks," Jerry Lucas, an equity analyst with Enskilda Securities, told CNNfn.com. "There's no fundamental support. What European markets did was somewhat optimistic. The market is still to nervous call a low and I still feel we could edge further down."
In the currency markets, the euro slipped to $0.9544 from $0.9622 on Friday, after strengthening in earlier trading. The dollar fetched ¥104.18 from ¥104.74 late Friday, with experts seeing gains on the horizon for the Japanese currency because Japan failed to enlist assistance from the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations in keeping a lid on the yen's recent gains during a weekend meeting in Washington.
Tech stocks follow a different path
Technology shares swung wildly during the session, starting the day with sharp losses only to regain them at signs of life in the Nasdaq. Highlighting the tech rebound was British Internet security provider Baltimore Technology (BLT), which fell 24 percent in early trading but ended the day as the second-biggest FTSE gainer, up 12.3 percent.
Leading the tech bounce was hand-held device maker Psion (PON), topping the FTSE gainers with a rise of 14.1 percent. Several top cyclical stocks were battered. 
Mining company Anglo-American (AAL) tumbled 20.5 percent, while industry counterpart Billiton (BLT), fell 9.2 percent. Fund manager Schroders (SDR) fell 13.6 percent - second only to Anglo American among FTSE losers.
Regional phone operator Kingston Communications (KCOM) rebounded from early losses to close up 1.3 percent, British Telecom added 2.4 percent, and media company Reuters Group (RTR) rose 2.4 percent.
On the upswing for most of the day, British American Tobacco (BATS) shot up 7.9 percent, but closed below its high for the day.
Among market heavyweights, mobile phone operator Vodafone AirTouch, (VOD), the FTSE 100's largest component, lost 7.6 percent and drug maker Glaxo Wellcome (GLXO) was 2.2 percent lower.
German investors cash out of banks
Banks were the weakest performers on Frankfurt's Dax. Deutsche Bank (FDBK) fell 4.3 percent, HypoVereinsbank (FHVM) tumbled 7.1 percent, Commerzbank (FCMB) fell 3.7 percent and Dresdner Bank (FDRB) fell 5 percent.
Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) ended in the black, up 1.4 percent after falling almost 5.6 percent, with its early slide braked by a sharp jump on the first day of trading of T-Online. France's Lagardère (PMMB), which holds a stake of about 6.5 percent in T-Online, jumped 7.3 percent.
Epcos (FEPC), a maker of electronic components, led gainers on the Dax, up 6.7 percent, while fellow tech issue and software powerhouse SAP (FSAP), rose 6.4 percent. Engineering and electronics giant Siemens (FSIE) climbed 5 percent.
Paris rallied by techs
Leading the blue-chip CAC-40 was chipmaker STMicroelectronics (PSTM) jumping 10 percent. Index heavyweight France Telecom (PFTE) rallied 1.2 percent.
On the way down in Paris, pay-TV operator Canal Plus (PAN) shed 4.4 percent and computer services provider Cap Gemini (PCAP) lost 3.4 percent.
Among bank shares, Banque Nationale de Paris (PBNP) dropped 3.5 percent, while Crédit Lyonnais (PCL) fell 3.1 percent. Oil company TotalFina (PFP) slid 2.3 percent, and tire maker Michelin (PML) fell 2.9 percent. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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