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14:17 2006/10/31
Euro stocks wilt in thin trade
LONDON: European stock markets wilted in thin trading yesterday, weighed down by unexpectedly weak US growth data last week which led to heavy losses for Asian and US share prices, traders said.
London??™s FTSE 100 index of leading shares fell 0.55% to 6,126.8 points, Frankfurt??™s DAX 30 index slipped 0.07% to 6,258.19 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index slid 0.63% to 5,362.23.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares gave up 0.31% to 4,004.92 points.
As the European markets closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) was flat at 12,088.98 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up by 0.30% at 2,357.71.
The broad Standard & Poor??™s 500 index was also essentially unchanged at 1,377.44 points.
Europe??™s main indices had struck their highest levels since early 2001 last week amid all-time record highs for the Dow index, before US shares recoiled on Friday following disappointing US growth figures.
The US Commerce Department estimated on Friday that the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.6% between July and September, its weakest growth since the first quarter of 2003, when growth was 1.2%.
The Dow nonetheless finished out the week above 12,000 points, a barrier it smashed through for the first time last week.
Yesterday, share prices took a knock in London from poorly-received company news.
Pearson tumbled 1.54% to 769 pence, despite the British publishing company revealing it was on track to post its ???highest profits ever??? in 2006.
Elsewhere, mining stocks were hit by profit-taking after last week??™s strong gains. Xstrata dropped 1.94% to 2,221 pence, Rio Tinto lost 1.35% to 2,858 pence and BHP Billiton offloaded 2.06% to 1,000 pence.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index gave up 0.42% to 487.95, the Swiss SMI was off by 0.49% to 8,652.36, in Milan the SP/Mib added 0.12% to 39,382, in Madrid the Ibex-35 was flat at 13,713.2 and in Brussels the Bel-20 shed 0.34% to 4,152.32.
The dollar edged higher against the euro in London after a pickup in US personal income and comments from a Federal Reserve official pointed towards further hikes in US interest rates.
The single European currency in late-day deals was at $1.2715, down from $1.2738 late on Friday in New York.
The dollar was meanwhile trading at ??117.42 against ??117.57 on Friday.
In Washington the government said personal incomes rose 0.5% in September after increasing by 0.4% in August. The pound was being traded at $1.9022 from $1.8978 on Friday. ??“ AFP
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