Europe sinks on IBM woes (hä?)

--- nur wegen der zahlen von IBM fallen in europa die börsen? wer´s glaubt... ---

Europe sinks on IBM woes

Computer firm's revenue shortfall hits tech stocks; Paris falls 1 percent
October 18, 2000: 5:10 a.m. ET


LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's major bourses fell Wednesday morning, with technology and telecom stocks declining on concerns about the outlook for company earnings after U.S.-based International Business Machines on Tuesday reported disappointing third-quarter revenue.

London's FTSE 100 fell 42.5 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,160.7, with chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM) and index heavyweight Vodafone Group (VOD) leading the decline.

In Paris, the CAC 40 blue chip index fell 1 percent to reach 6,006.48, led by France Telecom (PFTE) and telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE).

Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax dropped 0.3 percent to 6,512.86. The decline was led by electronic component maker Epcos (FEPC) and Europe's biggest software company SAP (FSAP).

In Amsterdam the AEX index fell 0.9 percent, and Milan's MIB30 lost 0.4 percent and the SMI in Zurich declined 0.5 percent.

    click here for the biggest movers on the ftse 100 in London
    click here for the biggest movers on the dax 30 in Frankfurt
    click here for the biggest movers on the cac 40 in Paris

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, fell 0.8 percent, with its information technology sub-index down 4.8 percent while the computer sector dipped more than 3 percent.

IBM had reported late Tuesday that third-quarter sales grew 3 percent from a year earlier, falling short of analysts' forecasts. IBM shares fell as much as $13 to $100 in after-hours trading in New York, even though the company posted an 18 percent rise in quarterly profit, in line with expectations.



In official U.S. trading Tuesday, the Nasdaq composite index fell 76.32 points, or 2.3 percent, to 3,213.96, and the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 149.09 points, or 1.5 percent, to 10,089.71.

Wall Street was expected to open lower later Wednesday. S&P 500 index futures fell 6.8 points to 1,353.00 on the Globex trading system, while fair value, a measure that takes accounts of interest costs and dividend payments, was calculated at 1,362.08.

Europe's biggest makers of telecom equipment were among the leading decliners Wednesday, with Nokia, the world's No. 1 mobile handset maker, down 6.8 percent, and rival Ericsson losing 5.7 percent. U.K.-based Marconi (MNI) fell 3.3 percent, France's Alcatel dropped 4.5 percent, and FTSE newcomer Spirent (SPT) slipped 3.5 percent. Bookham Technology (BHM), a British maker of fiber-optic components, fell 4.3 percent.

Among chipmakers, Germany's Infineon Technologies (FIFX) dipped 3.3 percent, and Franco-Italian STMicroelectronics (PSTM) fell 2.4 percent even after the company said third-quarter net income tripled to $415 million. STM forecast the fourth quarter would be another period of record financial performance.

British chip designer ARM Holdings dropped 4.7 percent, and ASM Lithography, a supplier of chip manufacturing equipment, tumbled 5.6 percent in Amsterdam.

In Germany, electronic component maker Epcos shed 6.6 percent, the Dax index's leading decliner, and its majority shareholder Siemens (FSIE) fell 1 percent.


Phone stocks catch bearish mood


Telecom operators also slipped into the red, led by the world's biggest mobile-phone company Vodafone Group, down 1.9 percent after the stock listing of Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone is a shareholder, was postponed because of weak market conditions.

Paris-based France Telecom fell 2.2 percent, and construction to mobile-phone company Bouygues (PEN) declined 2.9 percent, while data network operator Equant (PEQU) slipped 2.9 percent.

Shares in British Telecommunications (BTA) fell 1.6 percent as the company dismissed a Wall Street Journal report that BT had ended talks to merge its business services unit with AT&T (T: Research, Estimates).

In the software and information technology sector, European leader SAP dropped 2.5 percent, software consultant Logica (LOG) slipped 4.7 percent and France's CAP Gemini (PCAP) shed 2.6 percent.

Internet security company Baltimore Technologies (BTM) fell 7.6 percent, as Reuters reported traders' talk that a U.S. securities house was though to be preparing to sell a large batch of Baltimore stock, with estimates of as many as 41 million shares coming to the market.  

Outside the high-tech industries, Germany's Allianz (FALV) rose 0.8 percent after the insurer agreed to buy U.S. fund manager Nicholas-Applegate, a privately owned San Diego based investment management firm, for up to $2 billion including up-front and performance-related payments.

In the currency market, the euro rose slightly to 85.52 U.S. cents from 85.40 cents in late New York trade on Tuesday. The euro fell close to its all-time low of 84.40 cents on Monday after European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg ruled out further central bank intervention to support the euro if the Middle East crisis sparked a sharp fall the value of the ailing currency.

"We still hold firm to the belief that the euro will fall to 80 cents," Steve Barrow, a currency analyst at Bear Stearns, told CNNfn. "At that level the ECB is most likely to intervene."