European Midday Update: Europe Down on Nasdaq Fall

LONDON -- Political uncertainty continues to hang like a cloud over Europe's equity markets, and the technology sector took a predictable beating following the Nasdaq Composite Index's slump on Friday.

By midday, the FTSE 100 was down 94 points to 6306 and the Techmark 100 was down 107 points to 3115. On the Continent, the CAC-40 in Paris was down 95 points to 6053 and the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was down 89 points to 6763.

Telecom-related stocks bore the brunt of the selling. Alcatel(ALA Quote) was down 4.30 euros to 63.70 ($54.78) and Nokia(NOK Quote) was down 1.52 euros at 42.58.

Optical component maker Bookham Technology(BKHM Quote) once again heads the list of the FTSE 100's biggest losers. Shares hit another effective all-time low of 13.25 ($18.95), before recovering a tad to stand 12.4% lower at 13.67. U.K. telecom equipment maker Marconi (MONI Quote) fell more than 5%, down 48p to 762. ...