Markets suffer poor performance
The FTSE Eurofirst fell 1.3 percent, Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was down 1.9 percent, and in Paris the CAC-40 lost 1.6 percent, as European markets were down in mid-afternoon trading on Friday.
Technology stocks were down on bad news from IBM and Samsung and steelmakers were also down. European chipmakers and related companies were down across the board. Infineon was down 1.6 percent, STMichroelectronics fell 3.8 percent, and ASML, which makes chipmaking equipment, was down 1.4 percent, while Phillips was down 1.9 percent.
Ericsson, Sony’s Swedish partner, was down 2.9 percent and Nokia was down by 3 percent. The French company Alcatel fell 2.8 percent and Siemens was down by 2.6 percent.
In the steel making sector, Arcelor, the world’s biggest steel producer, fell 3.1 percent. Pharmaceuticals seemed to be the only sector to buck the downward trend and were generally up.
The European markets seemed to be following a trend established in New York after its markets fell over 1 percent each day on Wednesday and Thursday.
The New York markets had not recovered by early on Friday.
After a further loss of 1.2 percent in the overnight markets, the Dow Jones was down another 0.6 percent in Friday’s early trading, and the Nasdaq was down 0.8 percent.