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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2889)	7/3/2000 8:45:55 AM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

UK: IPDATE 1-VODAFONE BOUNCE AS TECHS RALLY. 3 Jul 2000 12:16GMT LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Shares in Vodafone AirTouch Plc rose on Monday, bouncing from recent weakness amid positive newspaper comment and as tech-related shares generally benefited from Friday's rise in the U.S. Nasdaq index, dealers said. Vodafone shares - which on Friday touched their lowest level in five weeks, 12 percent below the previous Friday's close - gained 14 pence or 5.2 percent at 281p by 1121 GMT. The move was enough to boost the FTSE 100 by some 38 points. Other telecom and IT stocks also featured among the UK's top gainers, with Colt Telecom Group Plc , Logica Plc and Sage Group Plc all up two percent or more. Nasdaq on Friday gained 88.88 points or 2.29 percent. Analysts noted a report in the Financial Times which said fears of hefty bills to compete in forthcoming European third generation or UMTS mobile phone licences may be overdone. The FT said consolidation in the industry had reduced the number of possible competing bids and said companies may get away with paying little more than reserve prices for the remaining licences. "Vodafone has been under a fair degree of pressure because people have been concerned about the sale of further UMTS licences, but we are beginning to see the return of a more rational valuation on the stock," said John Tysoe, analyst at WestLB Panmure. Another positive was a report in Saturday's FT which highlighted positive analyst comment on Vodafone. Lehman Brothers was among investment banks repeating "buy" advice on the stock in the wake of a setback for Europe's telecom stocks from negative remarks by mobile phone maker Ericsson . Ericsson Chief Executive Kurt Hellstrom had warned that growth in the mobile phone industry would likely slow due to high charges for new licences. Yet Lehman and other brokers said concerns over growth rates were misplaced and advised investors to use weakness in Vodafone as an opportunity to buy the shares. Lehman repeated a 450p price target on the stock. "Price targets are quite high and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the company," said one dealer in the stock.