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European markets close low
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February 4, 2002: 11:57 a.m. ET
Weak telecoms, Spanish banks drag bourses down
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LONDON (CNN) - European bourses closed low on Monday, led by weak telecoms and Spanish banks unsettled by moves in Argentina.
Argentina announced this weekend that it would tackle its economic crisis by dropping its dollar peg, float the devalued peso and partially lift a controversial savings freeze. Madrid's IBEX 35 dipped 1.9 percent.
Santander Central Hispano, Spain's biggest bank, and No. 2 Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria slipped 2.6 percent. Both have written off the value of their Argentina assets.
London's FTSE 100 declined 0.4 percent to 5,167.3 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris lost 1.3 percent to 4,397.54, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax slid 1.5 percent to 5,020.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 1.2 percent, with IT, telecom, computer services, insurance and media sectors in negative territory.
Telecom stocks were among the top decliners on Europe's three biggest bourses.
France Telecom (PFTE), the country's dominant phone operator, fell 2.7 percent amid continued concerns about its ability to cut its debt mountain.
Deutsche Telecom (FDTE), Europe's biggest telecoms company by sales, slid 3.3 percent after the German Cartel Office repeated its object to sell its cable television assets to Liberty Media of the U.S.
Cable & Wireless (CW-), a UK-based Internet data and telecoms company, dropped 3.8 percent as market speculation grew about an imminent profit warning.
Telecom operators also dropped, with Europe's fourth-biggest telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE) slipping 2.3 percent.
Finland's Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, lost 2.4 percent in Helsinki and Sweden's Ericsson, the biggest supplier of wireless infrastructure, dipped 0.2 percent.
British Airways (BAY), Europe's biggest airline, slid 2.6 percent. The carrier made a loss of £144 million in the three months to December 31, compared to a profit of £36 million a year ago.
Among Europe's smaller markets, Amsterdam's AEX index lost 0.8 percent, while Milan's MIB30 index dropped 1.6 percent and the SMI in Zurich dipped 0.6 percent.
Early Monday Wall St. was lower as accounting woes at conglomerate Tyco International and a mixed forecast from online retailer Priceline.com highlighted concerns about the timeline of the corporate profit recovery. By mid-morning, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 73.24 to 9,834.26, the Nasdaq composite index lost 22.03 to 1,888.24, and the Standard & Poor's 500 gave back 12.45 to 1,109.57. 
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