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Bourses feeling blue
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April 14, 1999: 5:24 a.m. ET
European markets in mixed trade, given no impetus by Dow, Nikkei
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's markets scouted for direction Wednesday after modest overnight rises in New York and Tokyo provided little impetus for a rally. Developments in Kosovo continued to stoke fears of an escalation in the Balkan crisis.
Taking a breather from its record close Tuesday, London's FTSE 100 opened flat, in the vicinity of its lifetime peak of 6,519.5. The index was off 0.17 percent, at 6,502.3 as banking stocks were thrust into the spotlight, spurred by takeover talk.
Germany's electronically-traded Xetra Dax was 0.7 percent lower at 5,188.24, pressured by auto giant DaimlerChrylser, which fell more than 1.5 percent to 90.50 euros after the European Commission accused the company of breaking antitrust rules.
Zurich's SMI was flat at 7,366.0, while in Paris the CAC 40 index slipped 0.75 percent to 4,334.71.
Alleviating some of the pressure on the French index, shares of Danone (PBN) vaulted nearly 6 percent, to 248.3 euros, as investors applauded a 3.9 rise in first-quarter sales at the food group.
Nonetheless, the Kosovo crisis is continuing to weigh on investor thinking, particularly in Germany. Stocks took a hit late Tuesday after reports that Serbian forces had crossed the Albanian border.
In Frankfurt, engineering and telecom group Mannesmann (FMMN) was 2.70 euros lower at 130.20 euros after it said that first-quarter revenue rose almost 4 percent to 4.6 billion euros, boosted by a 32 percent growth in its telecom side.
In London, Barclays (BARC) was in the spotlight again Wednesday, a day after its new chief executive, Michael O'Neill, decided to quit the post on health grounds. There is talk Barclays may be a takeover target of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBOS), following a British newspaper report that the Scottish bank is preparing a merger bid.
Barclays was down 0.2 percent at 1,917 pence in morning trade.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, Halifax (HFX), Britain's largest mortgage company, said Wednesday a previously announced integration of its real estate agency operations into its banking network will save 50 million pounds ($81 million) annually.
Halifax shares were unchanged at 862 pence in London.
-- from staff and wire reports
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