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Europe slips on debt, profit woes
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets were lower at midday on Friday amid concerns over France Telecom's debt problems and disappointing results from Dutch food retailer Ahold. Investors were also wary about key U.S. economic data coming out later on Friday and signs of a weak opening on Wall Street. London's FTSE 100 was down 1.2 percent to 4,056.7 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris lost 1.3 percent to 3,036.19, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax fell 1.8 percent to 3,035.74. The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 1.3 percent -- with most sub-sectors in the negative column. Investors were bracing for the latest readings on the U.S. economy. Figures on durable goods orders will be released at 1230 GMT, while the University of Michigan's business sentiment index is expected at 1345 GMT. "We're seeing some profit-taking and position squaring ahead of the weekend, but overall the situation continues to be grim with little hope for an economic rebound," Gert de Mesure, head of equity strategy at Delta Lloyd Securities in Antwerp, told Reuters. Earlier in the session, the mood turned gloomy when Ahold, the world's third biggest food retailer, said overall sales rose 5.8 percent in the third quarter but that sales in the U.S. market declined by 6.1 percent. (Full story) The Dutch group's shares were down 10.5 percent to 11.96 euros. Also weighing on sentiment was France Telecom (PFTE), which was down 1.7 percent to 10.03 euros -- but off its morning low -- after a the daily newspaper La Tribune reported that the group debt had jumped by about 10 billion euros to 80 billion euros. France Telecom said there was no truth to the report. Orange (PORA), France Telecom's mobile phone unit, lost 2.8 percent to 5.92 euros. The AEX index in Amsterdam was down 1.7 percent, the SMI in Zurich was off 0.6 percent and Milan's MIB30 index lost 1.7 percent. In the U.S. on Thursday, markets tumbled as investors took a breather after a recent buying spree, cashing in their profits from Microsoft and other companies that have driven the rally. (Full story) The Dow Jones industrial average was down 176.93 points to 8317.34, while the Nasdaq composite fell 21.52 points to 1298.71 and Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 13.64 points to 882.50. Wall Street was expected to open slightly lower later on Friday. S&P 500 index futures were down 1.5 points to 879 on the Globex trading system, while fair value, a measure that takes account of interest costs and dividend payments, was calculated at 884.07.
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