The London market opened sharply downwards today, losing more than 80 points in the first minutes of the session.
The losses came on the back of another dire session in the US, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 265.44 points and the tech-dominated Nasdaq closed off 178.93 points. The Nasdaq has now lost more than 50% of its value from its high point on 10 March.
Continuing fears of a slowdown in the US, combined with a series of broker and profits warnings, were blamed for leading the US markets lower. Over here, after the first hour, the FTSE-100 Index of leading stocks was standing down 58.5 at 6118.2, a slight recovery from its 83-point achieved 30 minutes into the session. It was techs and telecoms stocks that were again feeling the heat.
Newcomer Autonomy led the FTSE-100 fallers, losing another 6% following its earlier falls this week. It was down 141p at £19.95. Other tech stocks were also down, including Logica, off 80p at £15.68, Sage, off 2p at 315p, Arm, 14p lower at 504p and CMG, off 18p at 852p.
Confidence in telecoms was particularly dented after a downbeat trading statement in the US from industry giant AT&T. Colt Telecom suffered most, with a 32p drop to £14.43, although BT also lost 11p to 610p and Energis fell 8p at 434p.
However, shares in heating and boiler products group Hepworth rose 27p to 280p after agreeing terms on a £692m takeover by German company Vaillant. Exploration and production company Lasmo also picked up more than 13% following news of its £2.7bn cash offer from Italian oil and gas group Eni. Its share price rose 23p at 200p.
EGi News 21/12/00
