LONDON -- It was a tale of two markets this morning, back to the Old Economy stocks vs. the New Economy stocks dynamic Friday, as investors seemed to want little to do with the established names of the stock market. They were "keeping their powder dry" waiting for the U.S.
producer price index number for June. The
FTSE 100
was up 7.4 point midmorning to 6483.1, while the
Techmark
index of leading technology shares rose 20.7 points to 3471.8.
The morning's headliners were techs, media and telecoms.
Colt Telecom
(COLT)
continued to climb and was 54p higher to
23.55 ($35.39), while
British Telecom
(BTY)
added 5p to 895.
Best of the bunch in the media sector was
Pearson
, which gained 8p to
20.59. However, what the sector was really waiting for was news of the regulator's decision whether to allow a merger between
Carlton Communications
, down 4p to 822, and
United News & Media
, up 2.5p to 900.5, or a possible spoiler bid from
Granada Media
, up 3/4 p to 572.
Among the techs,
Kewill Systems
was the subject of vague takeover rumors, rising 55p to 755.
Baltimore Technologies
(BALTV)
moved up 30p to 592, while
Psion
gained 20p to 730. However,
Bookham Technology
(BKHM)
encountered further profit-taking in the wake of its recent strong run, dipping 94p to
44.55.
Glaxo Wellcome
(GLX)
slid 66p to
18.45 and merger partner
Smithkline Beecham
(SBH) - Get Report
fell 31p to 838 amid increasing concern that controls on drug prices in the U.S. could be implemented.
AstraZeneca
(AZN) - Get Report
took a 42p hit to
30.40.
Europe's other stock markets were in positive territory early Friday, although things remained quiet with Paris closed in observance of Bastille Day. The
Xetra Dax
in Frankfurt was up 139.2 to 7335.2 and the
Neuer Markt's
tech-heavy
Nemax 50
index was up 111.8 to 6077.7.
Bank stocks were some of the day's biggest movers, following a report from
Dresdner Bank
and
Commerzbank
were considering a massive pan-European merger with
Banco Santander Central Hispano
(STD)
,
BNP Paribas
and
Credit Suisse
. Dresdner was up 2.00 euros to 44.60 ($41.79), Commerzbank was 1.40 euros higher to 38.55, BSCH gained 0.09 euro to 11.24 and Credit Suisse fell 2.50 francs to 211.00 ($127.57). German financial issues were also benefiting from the passage of a major tax reform package by the upper house of parliament.
Major German tech companies were also in positive territory, as
Siemens
rose 2.70 euros to 182.70,
Epcos
(EPC) - Get Report
was up 5.70 euros to 121.70 and
Infineon
(IFX)
gained 4.29 euros at 84.69.
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Report
rose 1.55 euros to 60.90 and
Telefonica
(TEF) - Get Report
was up 0.04 euro to 25.10.
