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Europe sees red over rate blues
LONDON, England (CNN) -- European markets fell deep into the red on Friday as investors reacted to weak corporate results and registered disappointment over a missed opportunity for a coordinate global assault on interest rates. There appeared to be muted market reaction to the unanimous approval by the U.N. Security Council of a new resolution demanding unfettered access for U.N. inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The vote could pave the way for a U.S.-led attack against Iraq. London's FTSE 100 lost 1.1 percent to 4,034.6 and the CAC 40 blue chip index in Paris slid 1.7 percent to 3,058.18, while Frankfurt's electronically traded Xetra Dax was down 2.1 percent to 3,089.5 in late trading (the German markets were set to close at 1900 GMT). The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300, a broader index of the region's largest stocks, was down 1.1 percent, with the electronics and information technology sub-sectors among the big decliners. European markets continued a slide that began on Thursday after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England failed to follow the lead of the U.S. Federal Reserve and cut interest rates in an effort to light a fire under a sluggish economic recovery. A sales warning from Internet equipment maker Cisco Systems on Thursday, plus a poor outlook from Infineon on Friday, pushed European technology stocks lower. Infineon Technologies (FIFX), Europe's biggest chip maker, was down 8.8 percent to 9.35 euros in late Frankfurt trading after it almost tripled its fourth quarter operating loss to 292 million euros and reiterated that it saw no clear signs of improved demand for its products. (Full story) Vivendi Universal (PEX), Europe's biggest media company, gained 6.2 percent to 13.80 euros, topping the Paris bourse after finally agreeing to sell its stake in its 150-year-old water business. (Full story) Vivendi Environment, the water unit which is 40 percent owned by the French media giant, added 0.7 percent to 23.25 euros. Troubled Swedish-Swiss industrial engineer ABB rose 2 percent to 3.03 Swiss francs after saying it would reduce total debt and cut as many as 12,000 more jobs. (Full story) Shares in British Sky Broadcasting (BSY) lost 2.4 percent to 587.05 pence even as British biggest pay TV operator returned to profit in the first quarter of its financial year on the back of better-then-expected subscriber growth. (Full story) The AEX index in Amsterdam fell 1.8 percent, Milan's MIB30 index lost 0.7 percent and the SMI in Zurich declined 1.1 percent.
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