Tech scares see UK stocks fall
A fresh spate of bad news from the tech and telecoms sectors in the US left stocks on this side of the Atlantic ending the week down nearly 60 points.
The FTSE-100 Index of leading stocks closed down 59.4 points at 5943.7. It could have been much worse if bargain hunters had not sparked a late rally.
With just an hour's trading left, the Footsie was close to 100 points down for the day, teetering above the 5900 barrier and facing the prospect of its lowest closing point for two years.
The slide was sparked by warnings from both Motorola and Sun Microsystems in the US and affected tech and telecom stocks in the UK.
Hardest hit was computer services group CMG which plummeted by nearly 14%, or 110p, to end the session at 690p. Marconi also suffered a fall of more than 6%, dropping 32½p to 484½p, while Colt Telecom shed 57p to £13.08. Other telecoms hit hard were BT, down 10p to 595p and Vodafone, off 5p to 184½p.
FTSE-250 stocks saw handheld computer group Psion dragged down 9%, or 16¼p to 156¾p and internet firm Telecity losing over 8%, or 35p to 367½p.
Software and e-security specialist Baltimore Technologies was also hit, ending the session off 7%, or 19½p at 246½p, while computer group Schiper dropped 30p to 402½p.
Away from the new economy, banking stocks also had a bad day, after Trade Secretary Stephen Byers announced he was referring Lloyds TSB's proposed takeover of Abbey National to the Competition Commission.
The decision means Abbey National's future will be up in the air at least until June, when the commission is due to report. It also means the spotlight shifts to Abbey's long-running talks with its preferred partner, Bank of Scotland, over a possible merger.
The uncertainty pulled Abbey down 3%, or 36p to £11.03, while Lloyds TSB fell 13p to 629p and Bank of Scotland slipped 4½p to 743½p.
