European stock markets opened lower this morning after Wall Street gave up early gains to end deep in the red overnight as investors continued to shift their focus away from the war and over to the weak economy.
The pan-European FTSE Eurotop 300 index was 1 per cent weaker at 800.5, extending its two-day slide of 1.8 per cent as investors corrected their positions after most of Baghdad appeared to be under the control of the allied forces.
Frankfurt's Dax dropped 0.7 per cent to 2,740, while the Paris CAC 40 fell 1.6 per cent to 2,841.8. In London the FTSE 100 lost 0.9 per cent to 3,826.1.
In New York last night the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.2 per cent to 8,197.9 and the Nasdaq Composite ended a choppy session 1.9 per cent lower at 1,356.7.
In Europe today, Swiss drugmaker Roche fell 3.3 per cent to SFr86.75 after core sales in the first quarter rose 15 per cent, excluding currency fluctuations, to SFr6.7 billion but missed a consensus forecast for SFr6.9 billion. Total sales rose just 3 per cent after the strength of the Swiss franc wiped out nearly all the growth. Roche said it still expects to achieve sales and profit growth in double digits this year.
Insurers were once again leading decliners with Axa of France falling 6 per cent to €12 and Sampo, Finland's biggest insurer, down 7.4 per cent to €5.90. Fortis was 3 per cent at €14.25 lower in Amsterdam.
Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, dropped 3.4 per cent to €13.76 after it said it would cut 1,800 jobs in its networks unit. Nokia warned one month ago that the unit would post a "substantial loss" in the first-quarter due to weak demand for telecoms networks orders.
Agencies