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Europe mixed, telecoms fall
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February 13, 2001: 1:16 p.m. ET
Orange below-par debut drags telecom stocks lower; oil companies slide
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LONDON (CNN) - European markets were mostly lower at the close Tuesday as telecom shares took a hammering from mobile operator Orange's cut-price listing.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slipped 0.2 percent to 6,228.5, with heavyweights Vodafone (VOD) and BP Amoco (BP-) among the biggest decliners.
 In Paris, the blue-chip CAC 40 fell 0.4 percent to 5,739.03 as France Telecom (PFTE) and broadcaster TF1 (PFTI) tumbled more than 6 percent each.
Frankfurt's late-trading Xetra Dax index rose 0.3 percent to 6,586.75. Automaker DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) and chipmaker Infineon Technologies (FIFX) were among the top gainers while Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) stumbled.
Among other leading European markets, the MIB30 index in Milan fell 0.6 percent while the SMI in Zurich rose 0.1 percent and the AEX index in Amsterdam gained 0.4 percent.
The broader FTSE Eurotop 300 index, composed of a basket of Europe's largest companies, gained 0.3 percent, with the aerospace and defense sector up more than 2 percent. The oil and gas component and the telecom sub-index each were 1.5 percent lower.
"I think the year is still going to be a good one for techs and the broader market," Ben Rogoff, a technology fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, told CNN. "But I do think that in the short term, volatility will remain," he said, adding the direction of the world economy still has to pan out.
U.S. markets rose Tuesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said economic growth will slow sharply, raising the prospect of further rate cuts.
The Nasdaq composite rose 1.7 percent to 2,532.59, while the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average clambered up 41.21 points, or 0.4 percent, to 10,987.98.
In the currency market, the euro traded little changed against the dollar at 92.10 U.S. cents compared with 93.14 in late New York trading Monday.
Orange sale squeezes telecoms
France Telecom (PFTE) fell 6.3 percent after pricing its mobile-phone unit Orange at  9.50 per share for retail investors, at the bottom of the expected range. Orange made a weak start to trading, falling more than 1 percent in Paris.
British Telecom (BT-A) shed 4.3 percent despite reports its Italian mobile-phone affiliate Blu may be on the selling block. Among BT's rivals, Vodafone fell 3.6 percent and telecom and cable operator Telewest Communications (TWT) sank 8.7 percent.
Germany's Deutsche Telekom (FDTE) fell over 4 percent to touch a three-year low while French conglomerate Bouygues (PEN) was down 2.2 percent.
 Oil firm BP Amoco (BP-) shed 3.1 percent. The world's No. 3 oil company said fourth-quarter profit doubled to $4.09 billion, just under analysts' forecasts.
Rival Shell Transport & Trading (SHEL) lost 1.9 percent and TotalFinaElf (PFP) fell 0.8 percent in Paris.
U.K. electronics retailer Dixons Group (DXNS) plunged 5.7 percent, retreating from recent highs as Chairman Stanley Kalms and three other directors sold stock.
British contract caterer Compass Group (CPG) rose 2.8 percent, a day after inking a $542 million buyout of Swiss food group Selecta.
Media stocks in France were mixed. Broadcaster TF1 [PAR:PTF1] shed almost 6 percent and defense and media group Lagardere (PMMB) fell 2 percent while Vivendi Universal (PEX) gained 1 percent.
 In Frankfurt, automaker DaimlerChrysler (FDCX) jumped almost 4 percent after the Wall Street Journal reported its money-losing Chrysler unit should break even in the first half of 2002. DaimlerChrysler declined to comment on the report.
France's Renault (PRNO) shed almost 4 percent ahead of its earnings. After the market closed, the company, plagued by an ageing model lineup and intense European competition, said Tuesday its 2000 operating profits fell 8.3 percent to 2.02 billion ($1.86 billion) and signaled a second consecutive sharp drop in margins for 2001.
In Zurich, industrial engineering powerhouse ABB sank 8.5 percent after reporting earnings that disappointed the market and revising down its forecast of future profits.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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