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Europe lacks inspiration
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August 31, 2001: 12:31 p.m. ET
Bourses in neutral as weak economic indicators offset ECB rate cut
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LONDON (CNN) - European markets closed mixed on Friday as investors remained wary of committing money to stocks amid a string of weak economic indicators.
London's FTSE 100 closed with a gain of 0.2 percent at 5,345.0, while the CAC 40 index in Paris ended down 0.3 percent at 4,689.34, and Frankfurt's Xetra Dax was down 0.2 percent in late-afternoon trading at 5,153.16.
Gloomy indicators on the state of the world's economy offset the European Central Bank's decision on Thursday to cut euro-zone interest rates by a quarter-percentage point.
In France, the labor ministry said unemployment rose in July at the quickest rate in more than five years, leaving 2.37 million out of work.
In the same month, growth in U.S. consumer spending slackened to an annual rate of 0.1 percent, the weakest increase in nine months, according to a report released Thursday.
Some European markets briefly drew some inspiration from Wall Street, where key indices headed higher in early trading, only to ease back.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 30 points at 9,949.61 shortly before midday in New York, having flirted with the 10,000-point level. Thursday's fall had seen the index fall below that mark for the first time in nearly five months. The Nasdaq Composite index was up 0.4 percent by mid-Friday at 1,798.11.
On European exchanges, there were gains for some of the shares that have taken the most punishment amid persistent selloffs in the past month.
Spirent rebounds after cuts
In London, Spirent (SPT), a maker of telecom testing equipment, jumped 8.2 percent, recovering some of the ground it gave up in the previous day's 18 percent drubbing. The company on Thursday warned of depressed trading in its second half-year and cut 500 jobs as it fell to a first-half loss.
Following it on the leader board, Internet data carrier Energis (EGS) climbed 5.5 percent, IT consultant Logica (LOG) gained 3.1 percent, and industrial controls group Invensys (ISYS) closed up 2.9 percent, as investors reassessed some of the stocks laid low by repeated waves of selling.
British pension fund management group Schroders (SDR) rose more than 4 percent after ousting Chief Executive David Salisbury, a move that gave rise to speculation the company might become a takeover target. Dwindling funds under management and weak stock markets slashed first-half net profit by more than two-thirds, Schroders reported.
Some telecom-related stocks came under more pressure. Cable operator TeleWest Communications (TWT) tumbled 7.1 percent and British Telecommunications (BT-A) was down 4 percent. Telecom equipment maker Marconi (MONI), in danger of losing its place in the benchmark FTSE 100 index in the next two weeks, fell 4.2 percent.
Concern about the outlook for advertising spending, which has stagnated amid slowing economic activity, kept a clutch of London media stocks in doldrums.
Granada (GAA), one of the United Kingdom's biggest commercial TV broadcasters and program makers, fell 4.2 percent, and its close rival Carlton Communications (CCM) lost 2.5 percent. TV operator TF-1 (TFI) fell 3.2 percent in Paris.
Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), the publisher of popular national daily and Sunday newspapers, dropped 2.2 percent, and trade publications specialist United Business Media (UBM) shed 2.3 percent.
Business services provider Capita Group (CPI) was down 4.5 percent.
In Frankfurt, Commerzbank (FCBK), Germany's fourth-biggest bank, was the leading performer on the Dax index, gaining 3.6 percent by late afternoon amid renewed speculation it may attract a takeover bid from Italy's Unicredito. The Italian bank's stock fell 1.6 percent in Milan.
Bayer-Aventis talks lift Schering
Drugmaker Schering (FSCH) added 2.5 percent after media reports predicted a successful conclusion to Bayer's talks on buying Aventis's Crop Science subsidiary. Schering owns 24 percent of Aventis Crop Science, which reports have said may be sold for between  5 billion and 7.25 billion ($4.6 billion-to-$6.6 billion). Aventis (PAVE) shares were up 1.8 percent in Paris.
Thomson Multimedia (PTMM), France's leading maker of consumer electronics, took a 3.6 percent tumble in Paris amid a spate of negative news from rivals around the world. Japanese electronics titan Hitachi on Friday said it planned to cut more than 14,000 jobs, hot on the heels of a similar announcement earlier this week from rival Toshiba.
France Telecom (PFTE) dropped 3.8 percent, in step with losses for some of its sector peers in other markets.
Other high-tech stocks caught in the decline in Paris were semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics (PSTM), which fell 2.6 percent, and IT consultant Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (PCAP), dropping 4.1 percent.
Netherlands-based ASML, a maker of equipment for microchip makers, shed 5.3 percent in Amsterdam, depressed by the report of Hitachi's cutbacks, which the Japanese company said would mostly affect its semiconductor and display units. German chipmaker Infineon Technologies (FIFX) was down 1.4 percent.
In Amsterdam the AEX index fell 0.7 percent, while Milan's MIB30 index lost 0.5 percent.
The SMI in Zurich was up 0.9 percent, one of the healthiest of Europe's national share indices, lifted by solid gains for heavyweights such as banks UBS, up 1.8 percent, and Credit Suisse, gaining 2.1 percent, while Nestle, the world's biggest foodmaker, added 1.4 percent. Drug company Novartis was 1.6 percent higher.
The FTSE Eurotop 300, an index of the region's largest stocks, was up 0.25 percent, with its health-care sub-sector up 1.5 percent, one of the best performing industry sectors. 
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