Europe markets close lower

June 14, 2001 Posted: 1605 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Europe's top bourses closed lower Thursday, weighed down by forecasts of an economic slowdown in euro zone nations and U.S. profit warnings.

European tech stocks came under more pressure as the U.S. Nasdaq market lost more than 2 percent on Thursday after more companies came out with profit warnings. Texas Instruments  (TXN: Research, Estimates) reiterated a profit warning after Wall Street closed on Wednesday.

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London's FTSE 100 lost 1.15 percent at 5,753.1 as Britain's second-biggest cable company, Telewest Communications (TWT), fell more than 9 percent.

Software companies Sage (SGE),Misys (MSY) and Logica (LOG) all lose more than 6 percent.

UK national airline British Airways (BAY) fell after it announced continuing poor traffic and the sale of its cut-price airline Go for £100m, after months of struggling to find a buyer. The stock ended more than 5 percent lower.

In Paris, the CAC 40 blue chip index declined just over 1 percent to 5,297.1, with consumer electronics company Thomson Multimedia (PHO) leading the losers, down 6.4 percent.

Software company Dassault Systeme (PDLY) followed closely behind, falling just over 6 percent, while TF1 (PFTI), France's biggest TV company, dropped 4.6 percent.

Information technology consultant Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (PCAP) slipped 3.4 percent along with telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE).

Building materials firm Lafarge (PLG) declined 3.1 percent.

Axa (PCS), the world's biggest insurer, ended 0.4 percent lower after earlier, heavier falls, following news that the chairman of its supervisory board, Claude Bebear, and Chief Executive Henri de Castries were being questioned by police in a money laundering case.

Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax shed 1.2 percent to 6,038.62. Europe's biggest software company SAP (FSAP) led losers with a decline of 5.8 percent and European electronic component maker Epcos (FEPC) was down 3.6 percent.

Communications and engineering firm Siemens (FSIE) fell more than 2 percent.

In Amsterdam, the AEX index lost 1.6 percent, the SMI in Zurich was 1.4 percent lower, and Milan's MIB30 index dipped 1.9 percent.

Investor confidence had earlier been dented when the European Central Bank lowered its forecast for economic growth in the euro zone countries and the U.S. Federal Reserve said economic growth in the world's biggest economy was at best flat.

"The U.S. economy is continuing to weaken," Stephen King, chief economist at HSBC, told CNN. "We are bearish over the next few months. The beige book continues to show weakness in the U.S."

The beige book, so called because of the cover of the report, is used by the Fed's policy-setting committee to set interest-rate strategy. The Fed already has slashed rates by a hefty 2.5 percentage points since January.

Economists expect another quarter-point cut when the Fed next meets on June 26-27.

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the Europe's largest stocks, was down 1.4 percent, with the information technology sub-index off more than 5.6 percent.

Among its biggest components, Finland's Nokia (NOK: Research, Estimates) fell 7.7 percent and rival Ericsson (ERICY: Research, Estimates) slid 4.5 percent.

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Gloom dominated U.S. stock markets Thursday morning after the proposed $41 billion merger between General Electric and Honeywell International was put in doubt.

The news added to existing negative sentiment as investors showed little sympathy for companies issuing negative guidance.

In mid-morning trade, the Nasdaq composite index fell 35.66 points to 2,086 while the Dow Jones industrial average shed 101.51 points to 10,770.11. The S&P 500 slid 8.05 to 1,233.55.

In the currency market, the euro rose against the U.S. dollar, fetching 86.15 U.S. cents compared with 85.51 cents in late New York trade on Wednesday.

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