|
  |
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Europe hammered by Alcatel
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European stock market losses accelerated in midday trading on Tuesday after Alcatel warned sales would tumble this quarter. London's FTSE 100 slid 1.2 percent to 3,662.1 and Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax lost 2.7 percent to 2,677.45, while the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris also declined 1.9 percent to 2,901.97. The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 1.7 percent, with the information technology, computer services, electronics and electrical, media and insurance sectors leading declines. "Investors are extremely nervous about the outlook for corporate sales growth and telecom-equipment stocks are seen as a bellwether for demand," Paul Casson, an investment manager at SVM Asset Management, told Reuters. "Companies are not confident enough to expand their capital expenditure budgets just yet." Wall Street is expected to open lower later on Tuesday ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech on Iraq to the United Nations. The speech may be a turning point in Washington's efforts to convince allies that military force is justified to depose Iraq's President Saddam Hussein. (Full story) Gold prices rose to a seven-year high on Tuesday as many investors plumped for the precious metal, often a safe haven during periods of uncertainty. (Full story) French group Alcatel (PCGE) fell 7.6 percent to 6.21 euros after it said sales would decline sharply in the first-quarter 2003. (Full story) Rival telecom equipment makers also declined. Sweden's Ericsson, the world's biggest maker of wireless networks, dropped 10.2 percent to 5.75 Swedish crowns -- extending the previous session's 12 percent decline. Nokia (NOK), the world's biggest mobile phone handset maker, slid 3.7 percent to 13.08 euros. And German industrial giant Siemens (FSIE) slid 3.7 percent to 36.20 euros. Insurance and financial stocks continued to tumble on concern about their exposure to declining markets. ING, Axa (PEX) and Allianz (FALZ), Europe's top three insurers, fell more than 3 percent each. Commerzbank (FCBK), Germany's third-biggest bank, fell 3.3 percent to 6.38 euros after Reuters reported late on Monday the bank would post a worse-than-expected 2002 loss -- its first ever in its 133-year existence. (Full year) The AEX index in Amsterdam fell 2.3 percent and Milan's MIB30 index lost 1.6 percent, while the SMI in Zurich dropped 1.8 percent. In the U.S. on Monday, positive manufacturing data and bargain hunting lifted Wall Street but investors will look to Cisco's (CSCO) quarterly results and a report on factory orders Tuesday to see if the markets can pull off another day of gains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 percent, or 56.01 points, to 8109.82 and the S&P 500 index gained 0.5 percent, or 4.62 points, to 860.32, while the Nasdaq composite inched up 0.2 percent, or 2.88 points, to 1323.79. Wall Street was expected to open lower later on Tuesday. S&P 500 index futures fell 7.0 points to 851.5 on the Globex trading system, while fair value, a measure that takes account of interest costs and dividend payments, was calculated at 859.17.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
