LONDON -- The London market struggled to make much headway for most of the session in either direction. Doubts about whether the U.S. has really seen the top of the latest rate hiking cycle is acting as a major drag on Wall Street, which in turn is weighing on the U.K. market.
The
FTSE 100
eventually closed 14.9 points higher, or 0.2%, at 6465.4, while the
Techmark
ended near unchanged at 3,658.44.
Freeserve
(FREE)
remained firmly in the spotlight. The stock fell a hefty 27.5p, or 7.6%, to 336.5 after its broker
Credit Suisse First Boston
says it expects pre-tax losses of
61 million in 2001, which is more than double its previous estimate of
27 million.
The session's negativity on tech stocks extended to
ARM Holdings
(ARMHY)
, despite good second-quarter results announced Tuesday and the company being rated a buy by both
Goldman Sachs
and
Merrill Lynch
. The company fell 2.5p, or 0.3%, to 780. Banks had a steady session ahead of the earnings season that kicks off Thursday when big fish
HSBC
(HBC)
and relative minnow
Northern Rock
report second-quarter results.
Few expect any surprises, especially from HSBC. "I think it's going to be pretty much as expected," said
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's
William de Winton. "The market has discounted a lot of the bad news and is now hunkering down before the fix." HSBC, which announced Wednesday a venture with
Deutsche Bank
(DTBKY)
,
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
and financial information provider
Bridge
to develop an electronic bond-trading platform in Asia, closed up 8.5p, or 1.2%, at 843.5 ($12.57).
Elsewhere in the sector,
Standard Chartered
rose 10.5p, or 1.1%, to 944.5 after Morgan Stanley reiterated the stock as a strong buy. The broker says, "with minimal domestic assets, Standard Chartered might be the 'only growth stock' we cover," and upped its price target to
10.50.
Oil stocks had a good session on the back of firmer crude prices after OPEC president Ali Rodrigues indicated that there would be no immediate deliberate raising of output by cartel members.
BP Amoco
(BPA)
gained 16.5p, or 2.8%, to 599 and
Shell
(SC) - Get Report
put on 3p, or 0.2%, to 542.
Most of Europe's other major bourses ended lower, with the
CAC 40
in Paris closing down 19.4, or 0.3%, at 6,495.1. Late in the German trading session, the
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt was down 33.8, or 0.5%, at 7,373.1 and the Neuer Markt's tech-heavy
Nemax 50
index was off 93.2, or 1.5%, at 6,262.9.
France Telecom
(FTE)
erased early gains to close down 2.90 euros, or 1.9%, at 151.00 ($139.80) amid the successful stock market debut of the company's Internet portal
Wanadoo
and news it would buy out
Deutsche Telekom's
(DT) - Get Report
stake in Italian mobile operator
Wind
for 2.08 billion euros.
DT fell 0.31 euros, or 0.5%, to 60.68 amid reports that Chairman Ron Sommer was seeking approval to launch a formal bid for U.S. wireless operator
VoiceStream
(VSTR)
.
Big German technology shares were also lower, with
Epcos
(EPC) - Get Report
0.30 euros lower, or 0.3%, at 120.00 and
Siemens
(SMWAY)
off 4.39 euros, or 2.5%, at 175.61. Amid jitters a day before reporting second-quarter results, software maker
SAP
(SAP) - Get Report
dropped 4.39 euros, or 2.4%, to 220.00.
Carmakers bucked the Dax's general downward trend, as
DaimlerChrysler
(DCX)
rose 2.47 euros, or 4.3%, to 60.11 and
Volkswagen
(VLKAY)
climbed 1.47 euros, or 3.4%, to 44.27.
