European Stocks Fall, Led by Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel, Philips
By John Fraher
quote.bloomberg.com
Frankfurt, May 30 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell, led by phone-equipment makers on concern about falling prices for their products. Ericsson AB, Nokia Oyj, Alcatel SA and Royal Philips Electronics NV led declines.
South African Breweries Plc dropped after saying it plans to pay $3.6 billion in stock and assume $2 billion in debt to buy Miller Brewing from Philip Morris Cos.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index fell for the fourth day, sliding 40 points, or 1.2 percent, to 3334.06, touching a 7 1/2 month low. Computer-related stocks accounted for a fifth of the Stoxx 600 Index's 1 percent drop.
Prices for faster wireless network equipment have dropped by more than half as mobile-phone operators renegotiate contracts, newspaper Dagens Industri reported, citing Marc Rouanne, head of Alcatel SA's mobile network division. Regine Coqueran, an Alcatel spokeswoman, confirmed that prices are being cut ``considerably.''
``There's no sign of company capital expenditure picking up,'' said Grahame Exton who helps oversee 500 million pounds ($731 million) at Tilney Investment Management and recently sold stock in Shell Transport & Trading Co. ``It's difficult to find cases where valuations are attractive.''
Alcatel, Europe's biggest phone-equipment maker, lost 33 cents, or 2.6 percent, to 12.59 euros, and Ericsson, the world's largest maker of mobile-phone network gear, fell 0.9 Swedish krona, or 4 percent, to 21.8. |
