Footsie falls as Orange has disappointing day

Orange's disappointing return to the London market continued today as tech stocks were hit by woes in the US.

Orange's disappointing return to the London market continued today as tech stocks were hit by woes in the US.

The FTSE-100 Index of shares closed down 52.3 points at 6176.2.

The lacklustre performance of the US's Dow Jones Industrial Average came as hopes of an aggressive cut in interest rates in the US receded.

Sentiment towards telecoms was particularly poor and included a disappointing session from Orange on its second day on the market. Today, shares in the group, floated off by France Telecom, were down a further 44.50p at 559p after starting life at around 639p yesterday.

The list of FTSE-100 fallers was headed by Colt Telecom, down 134p at £13.86, and included fellow telecom firms Vodafone, off 6p at 210.50p, BT 43.50p lower at 567.50p and telecom equipment group Marconi off 36p at 579p. Telecom equipment business Bookham Technology also fell sharply, off 12%, or 98p lower at 691p, after warning top-line growth in the first half year would be hit by a slowdown in demand for its mini-DIL optical chips.

Other tech companies suffering included chip designer Arm, off 35p at 419p, computer services group Dimension Data 29p lower at 462p and software group Sage down 5.75p at 327.25p. Electrical equipment group Volex also tumbled more than 20%, or 332.50p, at £12.82.50p, after warning its full-year profits would fall below hopes.

However, it was not all bad news, and Cadbury Schweppes led the risers after posting full-year profit figures more than £30 million ahead of the City's estimates.

The group saw its shares sweeten by 12.25p to stand at 468.50p by the close of trading.

And travel group Airtours was also flying high after reporting first quarter figures today. Despite widening losses, the group pleased the City with improved booking numbers and a better showing from its troubled German acquisition FTi. Its shares were up by 7%, or 19p at 289p. Also in the travel sector First Choice had a session in the sun, rising 7.50p to 147p after announcing that its Canadian arm Signature Vacations had bought 18 American Express Leisure Travel shops and formed an alliance with AMEX.

Abbey National had a mixed day after announcing that underlying profits had topped £2 billion for the first time in its history. Initially shares suffered but finished the session up 5p at £12.30. And bus and car body maker Mayflower dropped 13%, or 12.50p at 85.50p after reporting a slide in profits.

The biggest Footsie risers were Prudential up 40p at £10.50, BAA ahead 21.50p at 647.50p, Royal & Sun Alliance up 17p at 531p, United Utilities ahead 18p at 620p. The biggest fallers were Colt Telecom off 134p at £13.86, Arm Holdings down 35p at 419p, BT off 43.50p at 567.50p, and Energis down 33p at 463p.

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