Alcatel (SBF:CGEP) tumbles on sector earnings fears
Reuters, 09/28/2000 06:40
PARIS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Shares in French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel (SBF:CGEP) tumbled more than five percent on Thursday, rattled by rumours of possible profit warnings from U.S. peer Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and other European rivals.
At 1021 GMT, the stock was down 5.67 percent at 75.95 euros, while the blue-chip index CAC-40 was down 0.81 percent at 6,268.47 points.
On Wednesday, rising speculation that U.S. mobile phone maker Motorola may miss its third-quarter targets unnerved the already fragile sector.
"It's no surprise, the American tech market has not yet hit bottom and I think the fear is that Alcatel will always be very vulnerable to any downturn there (the U.S. market)," a trader said of a possible warning from Motorola.
Others added that earnings warnings from other European mobile phone makers could also come into the fray, pointing to Finland's Nokia (HELS:NOK1V) as a possible victim.
"We are expecting bad news from Europe too. Nokia is under attack and who knows but it might be more than just the Motorola scares," a trader said. 1072, paris.newsroom@reuters.com))
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service |
