European Closing Update: Markets Follow U.S. Down and Stay There

Investors go on strike before long weekend in the U.K. and U.S.

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: May 26, 2000 1:11 PM EDT

LONDON -- The markets fell from the open on Friday, following on from the drop on Wall Street overnight, and with the long weekend looming in the U.K. and the U.S., investors went on strike for the rest of the session.

In London, the

FTSE 100

closed 14.2 points lower, or 0.2%, at 6,216.9, while the

Techmark

ended just 10.0 points higher, or 0.3%, at 3,008.1.

There were few sectors today that came out clear winners or losers. The tech stocks simply chased their own tails, media stocks ended with a positive bias, while telecom shares had as many winners as losers.

Vodafone AirTouch

(VOD) - Get Report

ended with a loss of 6p, or 2.0%, at 281 ($4.16), as investors squared off positions ahead of earnings results due on Tuesday. The big question is, of course, the proposed sale of

Orange

: how much and to whom?

France Telecom

(FTE)

, appears the top candidate.

British Telecom

(BTY)

proved to be another disappointment, losing 14p, or 1.5%, to 897. However,

Colt Telecom

(COLTY)

jumped 128p, or 6.2%, to

22.07 and

Energis

(ENGSY)

gained 177p, or 8.2%, to

23.45.

Media stocks were highlighted by a rise in

Pearson

, up 118p, or 6.5%, at

19.27, while

Reuters

(RTRSY)

gained 17p, or 1.9%, to 928.

Tech stocks were best described as lacking a clear direction.

Bookham Technology

(BKHM)

lost 125p, or 4.3%, to

27.75, while

Psion

gained 28p, or 5.1%, to 519.

Pharmaceutical stocks fell out of favor.

Glaxo Wellcome

(GLX)

lost 42p, or 2.1%, to

19.31 and merger partner

SmithKline Beecham

(SBH) - Get Report

shed 16p, or 1.8%, to 863.5.

Most of Europe's other major stock markets ended in negative territory Friday. The

Xetra Dax

in Frankfurt closed down 40.5, or 0.6%, at 6,938.3 and the

CAC 40

in Paris ended almost unchanged at 6,129.6. The Neuer Markt's tech-heavy

Nemax 50

index finished down 155.4, or 2.7%, at 5,687.1.

After falling as a group at the open, Frankfurt blue-chip techs ended the day mixed. Software maker

SAP

(SAP) - Get Report

was among the hardest hit, closing down 41.70 euros, 7.1%, to 542.80 ($494.95) after an apparently disappointing presentation to analysts.

Siemens

(SMWAY)

erased early losses to end up 1.45 euros, or 1%, at 150.20 and

Epcos

(EPC) - Get Report

finished 0.85 euros lower, or 0.7%, at 124.75.

Internet service provider

T-Online

ended down 0.95 euros, or 2.5%, at 37.05 after announcing it would soon introduce flat-rate service for 79 marks ($36.83) a month. And in Amsterdam, SAP rival

Baan

(BAANF)

fell 0.32 euros, or 10.5%, to 2.74, as the company shed some gains from takeover speculation.

Major European telecoms had a volatile day including

Deutsche Telekom

(DT) - Get Report

, which was able to turn things around late in the session to finish up 1.15 euros, or 1.9%, at 62.15.

Telefonica

(TEF) - Get Report

and

France Telecom

(FTE)