European markets decline

December 14, 2001 Posted: 1341 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- European markets were lower in mid-day trading on Friday, after a decline on Wall Street prompted by profit warnings from U.S. tech stocks.

Those warnings from telecom equipment makers Lucent and Ciena -- and  weaker than expected results from software makers Adobe and Oracle – drove European tech and telecom sectors lower.

London's FTSE 100 lost 0.6 percent to 5,045.9 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris fell 0.7 percent to 4,381.7, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was flat at 4,964.4

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 0.6 percent -- with the financial and retail sectors among the hardest hit.

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French telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE) fell 3.7 percent, Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone company, fell 1.6 percent, and Swedish telecom giant Ericsson, which has been plagued profit warning rumours, was down 0.9 percent.

Also hit were British software company Sage (SGE), down 2.1 percent. In Germany, software giant SAP (SAPG) fell 1.7 percent, electronics group Siemens [FSE: SIEG] was 0.4 percent lower and components maker Epcos (EPCG) fell 1.7 percent.

However, some tech stocks rebounded from earlier losses.

Among them Cap Gemini (PCAP), Europe's biggest computer services company, was up 2.4 per cent -- after tumbling this week following news that it was cutting another 2,500 jobs and drastically lowering its operating margin for the year. British chip designer Arm Holdings (ARM) rose 1.5 per cent after falling earlier in the session.

Meanwhile, South African financial services group Old Mutual (OM) lost 6.3 percent in London, hurt by the poor economic and corporate climate, as well as weakness in the South African currency, the rand. British business services company Capital Group (CPI) fell 4.0 percent.  

Italian jeweler Bulgari was down 2.6 percent -- but off its lows for the day -- as the market worried about the chances of a market warning, which the company has denied.

In Amsterdam, the AEX index was down 0.4 percent and the SMI in Zurich fell 0.8 percent, and Milan's MIB30 index dipped 0.1 percent.

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In the U.S., stocks eased on Thursday after profit warnings from Lucent, Ciena, Oracle and Adobe, along with a weaker-than-expected November retail sales report.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 64.9 points, or 3.2 percent, to 1,946.5. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 128.4 points, or 1.3 percent, to 9,766.5.

Wall Street was expected to open slightly higher on Friday. S&P 500 index futures rose 4.0 points to 1,121.0 on the Globex trading system, while fair value – a measure that takes account of interest costs and dividend payments – was calculated at 1,120.3.