FTSE falls on back of technology slump
London’s FTSE 100 Index sank to a new three-month low today as fears of a technology slowdown continued to weigh on investors.
News of a 79% fall in profits from Dutch electronics giant Philips compounded the damage caused by Friday’s slump in New York, leaving markets across Europe in the red.
The Footsie ended the day 64.5 points lower at 4827.1, with just a handful of top flight stocks managing to break into positive territory. Earlier in the session the index had fallen as much as 96.8 points.
Jitters over prospects for the forthcoming earnings season, fuelled by disappointing results from US giant IBM, have triggered the sell-off across the Atlantic over recent days.
By the end of trading in London today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost another 40 points after seeing its worst one-day fall in two years on Friday.
Hilary Cook at Barclays Stockbrokers said the London market was suffering “short-term nervousness” sparked by events in the US as well as first-quarter results from Philips in Europe.
However, she believed the recent level of takeover talk in the London market would buoy shares at home.
In London, losses hit the whole range of blue chip stocks, with oil, mining, telecoms and utility stocks among the heaviest fallers.
