Europe near 9-month lows

London, Frankfurt struggle to stay in black despite positive profit comments from Finnish giant Nokia

LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets ended near nine-month lows on Thursday, led by tech stocks, after a sales warning from telecom giant Nokia was compounded by a slide on Wall Street.

London's FTSE 100 fell 1.6 percent to 4,580.3 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris lost 2.6 percent to 3,832.07, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was also down 2.6 percent to 4,243.24 in late trading (the German market was set to close at 1900 GMT).

The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, fell 2.2 percent to 1,051.92 -- just a few points off it September low. The computer services, media and information technology sectors leading declines.

Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, drifted in and out of negative territory for most of the session -- finally end up 0.2 percent to 13.36 euros -- as investors digested its latest update on Thursday.

The Finnish company said it was reducing its second-half sales growth forecast to at least 10 percent from an earlier forecast of up to 15 percent. However, Nokia said it would hit its 2002 pro-forma earnings per share target of 0.83 euros. (Full story)

Nokia's statement, which was seen as partially positive, still sent tech and telecom stocks tumbling. One of the hardest hit was Swedish rival Ericsson, which dropped 9.9 percent to 5.40 crowns.

French telecom equipment maker Alcatel (PCGE) lost 4.2 percent to 9.06 euros.

France Telecom (FTE) fell to new lows despite news that it has reached a verbal agreement on a debt restructuring deal for its German mobile phone partner MobilCom. Its shares were down 14.1 percent to 12.89 euros. (Full story)

France Telecom's mobile phone unit Orange (PORA) lost 8.7 percent to 5.07 euros, while Deutsche Telekom (DT-) was down 5.5 percent to 9.32 euros in late Frankfurt trading. Vodafone (VOD), the world's biggest mobile phone operator, lost 3.4 percent to 89 pence.

BT Group (BT-), Britain's biggest land-line phone operator, declined 3.2 percent to 249.96 pence. On Thursday, Britain's telecoms regulator said BT competitors would be allowed to offer full phone service, including line rental and calls, through a new wholesale access product.

Chip makers and chip-related stocks were also lower, pushed down as well by news that U.S. antitrust officials were investigating the $12 billion global memory chip industry. Infineon Technologies (FIFX), Europe's second-biggest chip maker, was down 6.4 percent to 14.98 euros in late trading and rival Philips Electronics dropped 4 percent to 27.25 euros.

ARM Holdings (ARM), Europe's biggest chip designer, fell 4.3 percent to 136.66 pence and ASML, one of the world's biggest suppliers of equipment to make chips, lost 6.2 percent to 14.92 euros.

Reuters Group (RTR), the world's biggest financial news and information provider, plunged 13.9 percent to 362.2 pence after the company announced plans to cut anther 650 jobs. Analysts raised concerns the move may indicate revenues were under pressure. (Full story)

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, fell 4.5 percent to 45.75 Swiss francs after it said it would injected 600 million francs in fresh capital into Winterthur to reinforce its solvency margin, which had fallen due to negative financial markets and strong growth in its business. (Full story)

On the positive end of the market, Scottish Power (SPW) rose 5.3 percent to 363.08 pence after the UK utility reassured investors it was trading in line with expectations and dismissed talk of accounting problems at its U.S. unit. (Full story)

The AEX index in Amsterdam fell 2.7 percent and Milan's MIB30 index lost 2.4 percent, while the SMI in Zurich was down 3.2 percent.

In the U.S. on Thursday, markets edged lower after a downgrade of No. 1 automaker General Motors and a cut in earnings estimates by media conglomerate Walt Disney overshadowed a rise in the leading economic indicators. (Full story)

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 64.73 points, or 0.7 percent, to 9,496.84, while the Nasdaq composite index slid 17.19 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,479.64.