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Europe closes lower
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November 10, 2000: 12:32 p.m. ET
Techs, telecoms lead markets into red; Disney warning hits media sector
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's major markets ended lower Friday as telecom and technology stocks reeled while media stocks tumbled following a profit warning by U.S. entertainment firm Walt Disney.
London's FTSE 100 fell 42 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,400.2, with fiber optic component maker Bookham Technology (BHM) and market heavyweight British Telecommunications (BT-A) among the biggest decliners.
 In Paris, the blue chip CAC 40 index shed 123.66 points, or 2 percent, to 6,147.49, led by broadcaster TF1 (PTFI) and telecom and construction firm Bouygues (PEN).
Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax fell 107.81 points, or 1.5 percent, to 6,851.69, with chipmaker Infineon Technologies (FIFX) down 6.4 percent and software firm SAP (FSAP) 6.4 percent lower.
In other European markets, Amsterdam's AEX index lost 1.1 percent, the MIB 30 in Milan shed 1.7 points, and the SMI in Zurich inched up 0.2 percent.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, lost 1.1 percent, with its information technology component down 5.3 percent and the telecom sub-index 3.1 percent lower.
In the currency market, the euro was slightly lower at 86.07 U.S. cents from 86.60 cents in late U.S. trading Thursday. The European Central Bank intervened twice in the market to buy euros on Thursday in an effort to prop up the ailing currency.
KPMG economist Vicky Pryce told CNNfn the central bank was "using the dollar's weakness" caused by uncertainty over the outcome of the U.S. election to intervene. "Everyone now knows the bottom level for the euro is 86 cents. The ECB will intervene if the euro falls below that level."
In the U.S., the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 3.8 percent and the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average was 1.5 percent lower in midday trade.
 Tech shares were the biggest decliners in Europe, with investors taking their cue from the fall on Nasdaq. Fiber-optic component maker Bookham Technology (BHM) plunged 14.6 percent and German chipmaker Infineon Technologies (FIFX) fell 6.4 percent in Frankfurt and Franco-Italian rival STMicroelectronics (PSTM) declined 4.8 percent.
In Paris, telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE) fell 6 percent while consumer electronics firm Thomson Multimedia (PTMM) lost 5.2 percent. Dutch-based network service provider Equant (PEQU) fell 4.6 percent.
Europe's largest software firm, SAP, fell 6.4 percent in Frankfurt. British software provider and information technology consultant, Logica (LOG), shed 7.8 percent and Sema (SEM) dropped 7.6 percent.
Technology consultant Cap Gemini (PCAP) fell 1 percent, reversing earlier gains posted after the company said Thursday its third-quarter revenue doubled to  2 billion ($1.7 billion), helped by the addition of its consulting arm, Ernst & Young, acquired in February.
Engineering and electronics firm Siemens (FSIE) lost 2.6 percent while its separately-traded, electronics component maker, Epcos (FEPC) was down 5.7 percent.
Telecom stocks also slumped across Europe. British Telecommunications (BT-A) Britain's largest provider of traditional phone services, dropped 6.5 percent, extending Thursday's decline after it announced a restructuring that involves floating its cell-phone business and a newly created network-management unit. COLT Telecom (CTM) fell 6.6 percent.
CAC 40 index heavyweight France Telecom (PFTE) shed 4.7 percent while telecom-to-construction firm Bouygues (PEN) was down 7.3 percent. Germany's Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) was 2.8 percent lower.
Media shares also drooped following Walt Disney's (DIS: Research, Estimates) warning that a decline in advertising revenue would cut into future profits.
Pay-TV operator British Sky Broadcasting fell 1.7 percent. Rupert Murdoch's media company, News Corp., which owns 37.5 percent of BSkyB, saw its stock price plunge 12 percent in New York after Merrill Lynch lowered its recommendation on the shares to "neutral" from "buy", citing concern about future advertising income.
France's TF1 was the CAC's biggest decliner, down 9.1 percent while media and missiles firm Lagardère fell 7.7 percent. Magazine and radio station owner EMAP (EMA) lost 6 percent.
Music firm EMI Group (EMI) rose 5.1 percent after the company said it was in alliance talks with privately held German music publisher Bertelsmann.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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