European Closing Update: U.S. Markets, Election Weigh on Europe

LONDON -- European markets fell as technology stocks suffered from the Nasdaq's slide overnight and Wall Street's weaker open.

The FTSE 100 closed down 35 points, or 0.5%, at 6442, and the more volatile Techmark 100 closed down 90 points, or 2.6%, at 3347.

Tech stocks in general were massively out of favor. Optical-component maker Bookham Technology (BKHM Quote) plunged to a session low of 17.96 ($25.50), a 26.7% fall, before recovering slightly to end down 14.6% at 18.26, making it the FTSE 100's biggest faller. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that Cisco (CSCO Quote) warned of a growing stockpile of fiber-optic components, the rest to wider third-quarter losses it reported Wednesday.

E-security software maker Baltimore Technologies (BALT Quote), which pleased the market with its third-quarter results Wednesday, got hammered as it fell 7.4% to 485p. ...