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Microsoft falls in Europe
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May 18, 2000: 4:56 a.m. ET
Software giant's shares slip on government call not to delay split
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Microsoft shares fell in Frankfurt trading Thursday morning after the government called on a U.S. district judge to reject the software giant's call to delay plans to split the company.
Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) fell  1.20, or more than 1.5 percent, to 75.70. The government and 19 states vigorously defended their plans to split the world's biggest software company for violating antitrust laws.
The government is trying to convince U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to split Microsoft into two separate companies, rather than adopting a much milder series of restrictions on business practices that Microsoft proposed to the court last week. Judge Jackson holds a court hearing in the Microsoft antitrust case on May 24.
In Europe, software shares were mixed. Logica (LOG), a British software developer and consultant, fell 3.4 percent. Troubled Dutch business software firm Baan fell more than 5 percent to 1.90, while European market leader SAP (FSAP) rose 1.5 percent.
Shares of U.S. technology companies trading in Frankfurt lost some ground. Cisco Systems (CSCO: Research, Estimates) fell 95 European cents, or 1.4 percent, to 64.55, and Sun Microsystems (SUNW: Research, Estimates) lost 1, or 1 percent, to 96. 
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