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Techs, telecoms hit Europe
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February 7, 2001: 12:24 p.m. ET
France Telecom rattles sector with cut in Orange pricing; techs slump
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LONDON (CNN) - European shares ended lower Wednesday as techs and telecoms wilted after France Telecom slashed the price of its mobile share offering.
The CAC 40 blue-chip index in Paris fell 1.7 percent to close at 5,752.14, led by France Telecom (PFTE) and chipmaker STMicroelectronics (PSTM).
 France Telecom (PFTE) tumbled 6.7 percent after cutting the price range of its Orange mobile unit's initial public offering by $9 billion.
The issue now will value the unit at between  45.6 ($42.4 billion) and 52.8 billion.
London's FTSE 100 lost 1.1 percent to 6,225.6, led by a sharp fall in Internet software maker Autonomy Corp. (AU-) and chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM).
Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax also shed 1.1 percent to 6,622.10, with chipmaker Infineon Technologies (FIFX) and Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) among the biggest losers.
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In Amsterdam, the AEX index slipped 1.1 percent with KPN Telecom down 7.5 percent. The SMI in Zurich slipped 0.5 percent and the MIB 30 in Milan lost 1.3 percent, with Telecom Italia sliding 2 percent and its mobile phone unit TIM down 2.8 percent.
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The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, fell 1.1 percent, with the telecom component sliding 3.2 percent and the information technology sub-index losing 4.4 percent.
In the currency market, the euro was marginally stronger against the U.S. dollar at 93.32 U.S. cents, up from 93.06 in late New York trade Tuesday.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq composite index shed 2.6 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.2 percent in midday trade.
The Orange pricing cut rattled the European telecom sector. British Telecommunications (BT-A), which plans to float its wireless unit later this year, dropped 5.8 percent and Vodafone Group (VOD), the world's largest mobile phone company, declined 2.5 percent.
 Deutsche Telekom (FDTE), another phone company that needs to sell shares in its cellular operator to pay for third-generation mobile phone licenses, lost 3.3 percent in Frankfurt.
COLT Telecom (CTM) shed 6.7 percent in London.
Technology stocks added to Europe's pain after Cisco Systems (CSCO: Research, Estimates), the world's largest network computer equipment maker, posted weaker-than-expected earnings late Tuesday and warned of slower growth in the first-quarter.
Telecom equipment maker Spirent (SPR) dropped 6.7 percent and Marconi (MONI) dropped 3.4 percent in London. French telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE) declined 4.1 percent, Finland's Nokia, the world's biggest handset manufacturer, slid 5.5 percent, and Sweden's Ericsson fell 2.8 percent.
Among chip stocks, STMicroelectronics (PSTM) declined 6.4 percent and German rival Infineon Technologies (FIFX) lost 4.2 percent. Chip designer ARM holdings (ARM) dropped 7.2 percent.
 Internet software maker Autonomy Corp. (AU-) slid 9.6 percent amid talk that a major shareholder is on the verge of selling part of its stake. Autonomy denied the rumors. Earlier, Merrill Lynch analyst Simon Andrews reiterated his cautious stance on the company following an analysts' meeting Tuesday where the company detailed its manufacturing deals.
Peers in the sector also tanked, with Sage Group (SGE) down 6.3 percent and Logica (LOG) 6 percent lower. Europe's largest software maker, SAP (FSAP3) shed 3 percent in Frankfurt.
In other corporate news, British Sky Broadcasting (BSY), Europe's second-largest pay-TV company, fell 2.7 percent. The company, 37.5 percent-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS: Research, Estimates), said it had a pretax loss of £112 million ($163 million), better than expected.
DaimlerChrysler (FDCX), the world's fifth-largest automaker, rose 1 percent. The company said 2000 operating profit fell 49 percent to 5.2 billion excluding one-time income, blaming the decline on losses at its U.S. Chrysler Group unit.
Rival Volkswagen (FVOW) gained 1.7 percent while car parts maker Valeo (PFR) added 3.7 percent in Paris.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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