LONDON (CNNfn) - European markets sank like stones in afternoon trading to close sharply lower Monday, after investors followed Wall Street's lead and bailed out of the technology sector.
What had been a generally quiet session in Europe was enlivened when U.S. shares started trading, and headed straight into the red zone. Bourses immediately followed suit as investors took fright at a near-5 percent slide for the Nasdaq composite index and the prospect of more uncertainty over the prolonged U.S. election result.
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In London the FTSE 100 index closed at 6,345.0, down 1.5 percent, or 95 points, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 142.81, or 2.1 percent, to 6,609.48. In Paris the CAC 40 slumped 2.3 percent, or 139 points, to close at 6,021.79.
The story was the same among lesser European indexes, with Amsterdam's AEX 2 percent lower and Italy's MIB30 down 1.6 percent. Even in Zurich, which fought gamely to stay in the black all session, finally succumbed. The SMI ended Monday just 2 points into the red. 
The Eurotop 300, a broad-based index of European blue chips closed the session 1.5 percent lower.
Although the technology sector bore the brunt of the selling, the biggest casualty in London was rail infrastructure owner Railtrack (RTK). The stock sank 10 percent as investors digested the resignation of the chief executive Friday and belligerent comments toward the firm over the weekend by U.K. government officials. Railtrack was involved in a fatal train crash last month.
Also in the wars was Bookham Technology (BHM), a perennial sufferer whenever the tech sector falls from favor. Bookham, which makes optical equipment for telecom networks, tumbled 8 percent Monday. Others in similar fields were close behind, with South Africa-based but London-listed Dimension Data (DDT) crashing 7 percent, Colt Telecom (CTM) and Marconi (MNI) sliding 6 percent.
Bank stocks provided safe haven for investors looking to escape the maelstrom: Raised hopes for further consolidation in the sector drove Lloyds TSB (LLOY) almost 4 percent higher, and it was followed upward by rivals Halifax (HFX) and Bank of Scotland (BSCT).
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Only six shares in the CAC 40 had a positive session Monday, led by data network operator Equant (PEQU). The firm finally sealed longs-tanding talks about coming under the wing of France Telecom, although the 4 percent gain by the close was a far cry from the 21 percent surge with which investors acclaimed news of the deal in early Monday trade.
France Telecom (PFTE) traded below water all day, as its shareholders took a negative view of the deal. The shares closed almost 5 percent lower, although there were bigger losses for equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE), down almost 9 percent, and conglomerate Bouygues (PEN), which slid 7 percent.
DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) continued to prove itself the most unpopular stock in Frankfurt, sliding more than 5 percent in late trade to a new 52-week low. Investors continued to digest the poor showing of the firm's U.S. unit, Chrysler.
Daimler was followed lower by fellow heavyweight Siemens (FSIE), which lost more than 3 percent. Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) fell a similar amount – together the three firms accounted for 75 points of the Dax's deficit. Leading technology companies SAP (FSAP) and components maker Epcos (FEPC) were more than 2 percent lower. 
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