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Europe weighed by techs
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May 10, 2000: 4:45 a.m. ET
Techs, media stocks fall more than 6% as Nasdaq sinks on rate fears
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's key markets closed lower Wednesday as concerns about looming interest rate concerns hit the tech-laden Nasdaq composite and added to investor skittishness about tech stocks in Europe.
Frankfurt's Xetra Dax led the European bourses lower, dropping 159.68 points, or 2.2 percent, to 7,120.86 amid broad sell-off for software, auto and electronics shares, with relatively few companies on the upswing.
Also in a slump was France's blue-chip CAC 40, off 103.81 points, or 1.6 percent, to 6,265.80 with pay-TV operator Canal Plus (PAN) slipping 8.2 percent.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 fell 23.2 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,100.6 with Hilton Group (HLT) down 16 percent after Deutsche Bank sold its shares in the hotel and gaming firm. Zurich's SMI fell 0.1 percent to 7,587.5. 
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, slipped 1.8 percent. Its information technology sub-index, made up of mobile phone makers such as Nokia of Finland and its Swedish rival Ericcson, sank 7.8 percent and the media sub-index fell 6.1 percent.
A new drubbing for the Nasdaq composite accelerated the spill among Europe's markets, with the tech-heavy U.S. index down about 4.6 percent when the bourses closed. One analyst said the Nasdaq's negative example is weighing on Europe.
"Fundamentally, it's what's happening with the Nasdaq in the U.S. - the concerns about interest rates and earnings in the technology sector," said Mike Young, European equity market analyst at Goldman Sachs in London.
"A rise in bond yields will have a more negative impact on technology stocks, unless they're accompanied by more-optimistic earnings numbers from the tech companies, and we haven't seen that yet," Young said. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 131 points as European trading ended.
Mounting calls for intervention to prop up the ailing euro reinvigorated the European currency Wednesday. The euro rose to $0.9094, from $0.9075 in late New York trading Tuesday as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the euro is undervalued and French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius spoke openly about concerted action to revive the currency.
Speculation boosts BA
In London, British Airways (BAY) jumped 9 percent, leading the FTSE gainers, on speculation Europe's biggest airline will sell its Go low-cost subsidiary soon and that a deal could soon be struck to liberalize U.S.-British aviation ties.
Unilever (ULVR) rose 5.8 percent after the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods maker, which last week made an $18 billion unsolicited bid for U.S.-based BestFoods, said first-quarter net profit rose 4 percent to  643 million ($579 million). Sales rose just 1 percent to 9.7 billion. Adjusting to exclude the effect of exchange-rate variations, profit fell 3 percent to 611 million.
In the heavy industry sector, mining company Billiton (BLT) rose 6.6 percent.
Rupert Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting (BSY), a pay-TV company, fell 8.8 percent after it agreed to buy Internet betting company Sports Internet Group (SRT) for about £300 million ($460 million) and posted a fiscal third-quarter loss. Sports Internet Group fell 8.1 percent.
Telecoms, media battered in Paris
Construction-and-telecom company Bouygues (PEN) and microchip maker STMicroelectronics (PSTM) each slipped 7.9 percent, making them the big CAC 40 losers.
Data network operator Equant (FEQU) shed 5.5 percent and index heavyweight France Telecom (PFTE) fell 4.9 percent.
 Canal Plus (PAN) fell 7.5 percent. After the market closed Tuesday, the pay-TV broadcaster said first-quarter sales rose 23.6 percent to 927 million. Rival TF1 (PTFI), a recent entrant to the CAC-40, dropped 3.5 percent.
Hospitality company Accor (PAC) rose 4.2 percent after reporting a 16 percent rise in first-quarter sales, and after news Tuesday it is joining an online booking joint venture. Goldman Sachs also upgraded the stock.
Insurance giant Axa (PCS) jumped 1.7 percent after reporting a 33 percent jump in first-quarter revenue, helped by a strong performance at its Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette investment banking unit and solid growth in premium income for its French and U.S. life insurance businesses.
Automakers stall in Frankfurt
In Frankfurt, electronics components maker Epcos (FEPQ) fell 7.8 percent after starting the day higher, while parent Siemens [FSE:FSIE3] fell 5.1 percent. Business software maker SAP (FSAP) fell 6.8 percent.
Dax index heavyweight Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) fell 2.7 percent.
Vehicle makers were weak in Frankfurt. Volkswagen (FVOW), Europe's biggest carmaker, fell 3.3 percent after jumping Tuesday on a strong quarterly earnings report. Truck maker MAN (FMAN) dropped 4 percent. 
On the upside, steel and engineering company Thyssen Krupp (FTKA) was among the Dax leaders, up 2.1 percent, and chemicals maker Degussa Huels (FDHA) rose 3.7 percent on top of a Tuesday advance of 3.8 percent.
In other European markets, mobile phone makers headed lower to drag down the Eurotop index's information technology segment. Finland's Nokia, the world's biggest maker of cellular phones, fell 9.8 percent, while rival Ericsson of Sweden dropped 5.8 percent. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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