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Europe closes mixed
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November 29, 2000: 12:45 p.m. ET
Technology, telecom shares drag on London; Frankfurt creeps out of the red
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Europe's major markets ended mixed Wednesday, as technology and telecom shares dragged down London while broad gains from the chemical to insurance sectors pulled Frankfurt out of its earlier decline.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 84.9 points, or 1.4 percent, to 6,164.9, with chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM) and COLT Telecom Group (CTM) leading the way down.
The blue chip CAC 40 in Paris fell 8.57 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,060.65, with automaker Renault (PRNO) and market heavyweight France Telecom (PFTE) among the biggest decliners. Tech shares recouped most of their steep early losses, helping the index end off its earlier 1.5 percent loss.
Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax edged up 8.38 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,633.94.
Among other European markets, the AEX index in Amsterdam edged up 0.1 percent, Milan's MIB 30 rose 0.8 percent and the SMI in Zurich lost 0.1 percent.
The broader FTSE Eurotop 300 index, a basket of Europe's largest companies, fell 0.3 percent with its computer services and software subindex tumbling 3.7 percent.
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"It's going to be a tough ride ... people are worried about the possibility of a hard landing," said Paul Horne, an market strategist with Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, saying investors may have set their hopes for share prices too high earlier this year. "We don't think there's going to be a hard landing, but we'll see a deflating of the expectational bubble."
click here for the biggest movers on the techMARK 100 in London
click here for the biggest movers on the Neuer Market in Frankfurt
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In the currency market, the euro strengthened slightly to 85.81 U.S. cents from 85.60 in late New York trading a day earlier. The euro earlier reached 86.58 after reports Tuesday that showed U.S. consumer confidence fell in November to its lowest level in more than a year while durable goods orders sank more than expected in October.
U.S. markets were mixed in midday trade. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite index was down 0.5 percent, while the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average was up 1 percent.
Software shares sink
On European bourses, software firms took a beating, with Britain's Misys (MSY) down 9 percent, Logica (LOG) 8.2 percent lower and U.K. business software developer Sage Group (SGE) declining 5.1 percent.
 European software powerhouse SAP (FSAP) dropped 5.9 percent.
Chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM) tumbled 11.8 percent.
Information technology service provider Sema Group (SEM) extended recent heavy losses with another 6.4 percent drop.
U.K. network equipment maker Marconi (MNI) fell 2.9 percent after posting first-half pretax profit of £276 million ($392.3 million), before special items, falling about 10 percent below analysts' forecasts.
German engineering and electronics titan Siemens (FSIE) bucked the sector's trend, rising 2.9 percent.
Telecom operators also suffered, as France Telecom fell 2.6 percent and Bouygues (PEN) dropped 3.6 percent. Britain's COLT Telecom Group (CTM) dropped 9.3 percent. Mobile phone operator Vodafone (VOD), the largest stock by market value on the FTSE 100 index, rose 1.4 percent.
 In Zurich, Swisscom fell 2 percent after the telecom firm reported nine-month earnings that fell 33 percent and said it expects considerably lower profit for the full year.
In Amsterdam, United Pan-Europe Communications dropped 8 percent after saying that Deutsche Bank granted the Dutch-based cable network operator an option lasting up to nine months to purchase assets of Germany's Telecolumbus cable network for  340 million ($291million). UPC also said it planned to split off and float its UPC Germany operation.
Pharmaceuticals catch a cold
Drug maker Glaxo Wellcome (GLXO) fell 2.1 percent and would-be merger partner SmithKline Beecham (SB-) shed 1.6 percent. On Tuesday, Glaxo pulled its controversial treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, Lotronex, from sale in the United States and abandoned plans to sell it in other markets. The withdrawal was made at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration which had voiced concerns about the product's side effects.
Shire Pharmaceuticals Group (SHP) dropped 8.8 percent and German rival Schering (FSCH) fell 2.4 percent
Among financials, Germany's Dresdner Bank (FDRB) lost 3.9 percent after its chief executive Bernd Fahrholz said the bank's earnings for the year would be hit by a rise in risk provisions. Deutsche Bank (FDBK) shed 2.3 percent as investors fretted over the sector's exposure to the Turkish banking crisis. Deutsche Bank said it wasn't affected by the problems because it didn't have big exposure to the country.
Reinsurer Munich Re (FMUV) added 2.3 percent and Allianz (FALZ) rose 1.2 percent.
Automakers were generally lower, with France's Renault (PRNO) down 3.4 percent as traders cited concerns over exposure to the banking crisis in Turkey. Germany's DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) 1.4 percent lower and Volkswagen (FVOW) skidding 2.7 percent. Truck maker MAN (FMAN) added 1.4 percent.
Elsewhere, aerospace, defense and information technology service firm Thomson-CSF (PHO) rose 6.6 percent.
EADS (PEAD) rose 1.5 percent after Australia's biggest airline Qantas Airways said it will buy 25 aircraft from Airbus Industrie of Europe. EADS owns 80 percent of the airplane manufacturer.
German water service firm RWE (FRWE) climbed 3.1 percent after South African synthetic fuel producer Sasol said it could bid for RWE's specialty chemicals unit before the end of the year.
Chemicals firm Henkel (FHEN) jumped 3.8 percent, topping Frankfurt's gainers.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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