European Midday Update: Markets Down but Not Out
LONDON -- A gloomy mood was afoot Thursday morning as European investors awoke to news of losses of 168 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 200 points in the Nasdaq composite, although the markets could be said to be showing a measure of resilience.
The
FTSE 100
was down 36 points after 20 minutes of trading, but steadied at 6,082.9, off 17.7 points. The
Techmark
, however, was down 101 points to 3,372.0 as, unsurprisingly, the techs bore the brunt of the selling.
For example,
Psion
slipped back 23p to 675,
Baltimore Technologies
(BALT)
was 400p off at
49.00 and
BATM Advanced Communications
fell 212p to
38.12.
Telecoms fared no better, with
Vodafone AirTouch
(VOD) - Get Report
6p lower to 249,
Colt Telecom
(COLTY)
down 112p to
24.00, and
British Telecom
(BTY)
5p cheaper to 917.
Believe it or not, there were some bright spots in the market, with
Kingfisher
(KNGFY)
6p firmer to 560 as the company revealed that first-quarter sales growth was up 12% to
2.6 billion. Like-for-like sales increased 7.1% for the quarter. All of the group's main businesses showed increased sales with a particularly strong performance in electricals.
Elsewhere,
ICI
(ICI)
attracted speculative support on U.S. bid rumors and gained 22p to 550.
BOC
(BOX) - Get Report
moved up 4p to 995 in the wake of Wednesday's statement on the company's future. The
Air Liquide/Air Products
preconditional offer is set to lapse Friday and the BOC board confirmed its intention to pursue its strategy as an independent company.
Unilever
(UL) - Get Report
attracted further support after positive comment on Wednesday's first-quarter results and moved up 13p to 417.
British Airways
(BAB) - Get Report
added 2p to 360 on news that it is to join forces with 10 other major airlines to create the first European multi-airline, online travel agency.
Lastminute.com
took a 20p hit to 185 on competition fears.
Barclays
(BCS) - Get Report
rose 9p to
15.50. On Wednesday, the company continued its share buyback with the purchase of 1.4 million shares at
15.48 per share.
LloydsTSB
moved up 6.5p to 615.5.
Oils held up well, with
BP Amoco
(BPA)
further underpinned by its good first-quarter figures and 4p higher at 594.
Shell
(SC) - Get Report
firmed 6.5p to 552.
Negative press comments about future costs and the TV rights for Premier League soccer unsettled
BSkyB
(BSY)
, which fell 114p to
12.20. The shares fell 178p Wednesday. Other media stocks were brighter with
Pearson
up 44p to
21.00 and
Reuters
(RTRSY)
17p better at
10.40.
Conditions on the Continent weren't pretty either. The
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt was down 68.5 to 7,052.3 and the
CAC 40
in Paris was off 52.7 to 6,210.6.
Techs and telecoms were sold heavily.
Siemens
(SMAWY)
was down 3.45 euros to 149.05,
Vivendi
(VVDIY)
down 2.50 euros to 104.00 and
Nokia
(NOK) - Get Report
down 1.25 euros to 54.30.
Some did manage to eke out gains.
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Report
was up 1.27 euros to 62.00 and
France Telecom
(FTE)
rose 1.80 euros to 147.80.
