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Bourses copy Wall St.'s dip
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August 27, 1999: 5:39 a.m. ET
Dow's retreat from record sours European sentiment; Swiss earnings in focus
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LONDON (CNNfn) - European stocks eased gently at mid-morning amid waning enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve's decision earlier this week to raise interest rates nominally. Markets already have their eyes on U.S. and European economic data due out next week.
European losses Friday followed Thursday's fall in U.S. stocks and the overnight drop in Tokyo. Only Zurich posted a marginal gain.
In London, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.27 percent, or 17.1 points, to 6,366.8, while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.14 percent to 4,622.76.
Germany's Xetra Dax recouped some early losses but was still off 0.21 percent at 5,378.22 with only 8 of the 30 blue chips in positive territory.
Swiss blue chips wiped out their earlier losses, with the SMI a fraction higher at 7,133.3. Among smaller markets, Madrid was up 0.4 percent, while Amsterdam eased 0.18 percent.
Investors lacked inspiration after Wall Street suffered a relapse following two record closes by U.S. blue chips this week. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.1 percent, or 127 points, to 11,198.45. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite suffered a similar percentage loss.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slipped almost 70 points to close at 17,599.37.
Wall Street looked set to open flat Friday, with S&P 500 futures quoted 1.10 points lower on the Globex trading system at 1,366.70. London brokers calculated fair value, which takes into account the effect of dividend payments and interest costs, at 1,365.16.
Most of the limited corporate activity in Europe Friday was reserved for Switzerland.
In London, oil stocks were mixed at mid-morning, a day after steep losses. BP Amoco (BP.A), the most heavily weighted blue-chip issue, accounting for just over 9 percent of the index's total valuation, was up 0.43 percent at 1,168 pence. Rival Shell (SHEL), which suffered a broker's downgrade Thursday, eased 0.6 percent to 501 pence.
Topping the blue-chip gainers list was Anglo-Dutch publisher Reed Elsevier (REED), which jumped about 2.5 percent. British Airways (BAY) lost 2.6 percent as it succumbed to selling pressure a day after Thursday's sharp gains of more than 5 percent.
In Zurich, Clariant was up 0.55 percent at 727 Swiss francs after the specialty chemicals group announced net profit of 260 million Swiss francs ($170 million) versus 261 million Swiss francs a year ago.
Swisscom slipped 0.2 percent to 533 Swiss francs after unveiling a 6 percent rise in net profit for the first six months to 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($783 million).
Drug giant Novartis was off 0.63 percent at 2,221 Swiss francs despite announcing a share buyback worth 4 billion Swiss francs.
In Frankfurt, bank stocks led the downturn. Dresdner Bank (FDRB) was among the biggest decliners, dropping 2.2 percent amid reported statements by a senior executive that the bank is considering increasing its cross-shareholding with French bank BNP (PBNP).
Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) gave up 1.6 percent to 41.10 euros after its chief executive told the Financial Times the company may sell its regional cable business in stages, rather than in a single transaction.
Lufthansa (FLHA) was off 1.7 amid a skirmish for control of Air Canada.
The French banking regulator is due to announce its decision later Friday on a bruising takeover battle in the banking sector. BNP shares were off 1.3 percent, while Société Générale (PGLE) shed 2.5 percent.
In Amsterdam, Fortis was up 0.8 percent at 32.15 euros after the financial services groups beat expectations with a 31 percent rise in first-half net profit to 1.16 billion euros ($1.21 billion).
-- from staff and wire reports
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