European Closing Update: London Bounces, Continent Stocks Don't
LONDON -- A late bounce made London blue-chips the sole winners in European action.
The
FTSE 100
broke below the 6,000-point level this morning, but then a wave of optimism swept though the market and from being 89.2 points lower, the index closed 31.8 points higher, or 0.5%, at 6,118.6. Tech stocks, however, suffered another miserable session and the
Techmark
slid another 53.9 points, or 1.9%, to 2,864.2.
Not every tech stock had a bad day.
Logica
jumped 91p, or 6.2%, to
15.62 ($22.96) after announcing a deal with
Norweb Telecom
to deliver its Customer Relationship Management service over Norweb Telecom's national network.
BSkyB
(BSY)
rose 107p, or 10.3%, to
11.47 on hopes that the proposed acquisition of
Sports Internet
may clear all the regulatory hurdles. And
Carlton Communications
(CCTVY)
provided another media bright spot, rising 16.5p, or 2.2%, to 760.5 on the back of an upbeat trading statement accompanying half-year earnings results and an Internet deal with the supermarket chain
J Sainsbury
.
Vodafone AirTouch
(VOD) - Get Report
reversed an early loss to finish 5p higher, or 2.0%, at 264 and
British Telecom
(BTY)
gained 19p, or 2.2%, to 891.
However, those technology, media and telecom gainers were in the minority.
Pearson
fell 79p, or 4.6%, to
16.46 and
Reuters
(RTRSY)
slid 66p, or 7.1%, to 869.
Fibernet Group
fell 240p, or 15.7%, to
12.85 and
CMG
gave up 217p, or 6.4%, to
31.59.
The insurer
Prudential plc
rose 29.5p to 973 after announcing that the flotation of its Internet bank,
Egg
, is back on schedule,
Europe's other stock markets closed sharply lower, as techs continued to get hammered. The
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt closed down 92.8, or 1.3%, at 6,834.9 and the
CAC 40
in Paris finished 121.5 lower, or 2.0%, at 6,027.1. The
Neuer Markt's
tech-heavy
Nemax 50
index plunged 370.7, or 6.2%, to 5,589.9.
In Frankfurt, technology losses were led by blue-chip issues, with
Siemens
(SMWAY)
closing down 1.70 euros, or 1.2%, at 145.00 ($131.44),
Epcos
(EPC) - Get Report
ending 7.56 euros lower, or 6%, at 118.20 and
Infineon
(IFX)
off 5.26 euros, or 7.7%, at 63.00.
Carmaker
BMW
was able to buck the downward trend and close 1.45 euros higher, or 4.7%, at 32.15 after selling its Land Rover unit to
Ford
(F) - Get Report
. Pharmaceuticals maker
Bayer
(BAYZY)
finished up 0.15 euros, or 0.4%, at 43.19, but industrial giant
Thyssen Krupp
plunged 3.70 euros, or 16.1%, to 19.25 after posting disappointing earnings.
Major European telecoms were all lower, with
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Report
closing down 2.10 euros, or 3.6%, at 56.60,
Telefonica
(TEF) - Get Report
off 0.31 euros, or 1.5%, at 20.14 and
France Telecom
(FTE)
ending 5.80 euros lower, or 4.2%, at 131.50.
