LONDON -- Given that the
Dow
had a good run Friday after the release of the monthly U.S.
employment report, you would think that U.K. stocks, especially with an ADR, would see some follow-through support the following Monday morning. Unfortunately, so far this Monday, that hasn't been the case. The
FTSE 100
was off 16.7 points to 6480.8 and the
Techmark
index of leading technology shares index was up 1.5 points to 3447.5.
The telecom sector attracted a modicum of interest after confirmation from
British Telecom
(BTY)
that it is considering a radical break-up plan, including the possible float of
Concert
, its joint venture with
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
. BT shares rose 5p to 922 ($13.95).
Marconi
rose 17p to 977 and
Colt Telecom
(COLT)
moved up 30p to
23.30, but
Vodafone AirTouch
(VOD) - Get Report
slipped 5p to 315.
Telewest
(TWSTY)
added 5p to 239 after word that
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
, the U.S. software giant, bowed to pressure from the
European Commission
and said it will give up plans to have joint control of the U.K. cable operator.
Credit Lyonnais
suggested buying banks and selling oils early Monday. Whether investors were taking much notice of this advice is open to question, because both sectors made selective progress.
Barclays
(BCS) - Get Report
rose 10p to
15 and
Lloyds TSB
(LLDTY)
was 2p dearer at 612, while
HSBC
(HBC)
gained 12.5p to 761.
Standard Chartered
was up 10p to 865.
In oils,
BP Amoco
(BPA)
was a fraction better at 617.5 and
Shell
(SC) - Get Report
improved 1.5p to 564.5.
Elsewhere,
Eidos
(EIDSY)
advanced 20p to 515 as French software group
Infogrames
continues to move ahead with plans to buy the company that features cyber-heroine Lara Croft in its
Tomb Raider
series of computer games.
Europe's other major stock markets were mixed early Monday, with the
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt up 13.91 to 7066.13 and the
CAC 40
in Paris 16.01 lower to 6549.96. The
Neuer Markt's
tech-heavy
Nemax 50
index was down 4.9 to 6125.8.
Blue-chip German tech shares were posting modest gains, with software maker
SAP
(SAP) - Get Report
up 4.01 euros to 199.90 ($189.38),
Epcos
(EPC) - Get Report
1.31 euro higher at 109.81 and
Siemens
(SMAWY)
up 2.00 euros to 164.50.
Major European telcos were mixed, as
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Report
was up 1.40 euros to 62.21, but
Telefonica
(TEF) - Get Report
was down 0.17 euro to 24.51 and
France Telecom
(FTE)
was off 0.50 euro to 150.50.
Elsewhere in Paris,
Vivendi
was just holding on to early gains, up 0.05 euro to 90.10,
Total Fina Elf
(TOT) - Get Report
was 0.90 euro higher to 161.40 and
Alcatel
(ALA)
was up 0.65 euro to 75.05.
