Europes Stoxx 50 Index Erases Gain; Vodafone and SAP Decline
Europes Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index erased earlier gains as Vodafone Group Plc and SAP AG declined.
The Stoxx 50 retreated 0.2 percent as of 3:22 p.m. in London, after rising as much as 0.7 percent. The Stoxx 600 added less than 0.1 percent to 316.90, and the Euro Stoxx 50, an index for the 12 nations using the euro, added 0.1 percent.
Vodafone, the worlds largest mobile phone company, lost 2 percent to 111.75 pence. SAP, the largest maker of business- management software, fell 1.3 percent to 149.48 euros.
Source : bloomberg.com
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Europe Roundup: Shares fall
European stocks fell, dragged lower by telecommunications companies on concern about slowing earnings growth in the industry.
Deutsche Telekom AG, which yesterday cut a profit forecast, and Vodafone Group plc dropped.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.2 per cent to 323.48 at 3.13 pm in London. The Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50 measure for the 12 nations sharing the euro both lost 0.3 per cent.
National indices fell in 11 of 18 western European markets.
The UKs FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.3 per cent while Germanys DAX Index declined 0.2 per cent. - Bloomberg
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The pan-European stocks measure added 0.3 percent to 310.54, its highest since Aug. 8, 2001. It has jumped 24 percent in 2005, the most in six years.
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Around the markets: In Europe, the tables have turned
LONDON European stocks outperformed U.S. shares for the second consecutive year in 2005 as exporters and commodity producers helped earnings surpass analysts' estimates.
In 2006, however, the region may lose its lead.
Slower profit growth, along with higher interest rates on the European continent, may weigh on stock prices. The region's indexes, which reached four-year highs in 2005, now are less of a bargain compared with U.S. stocks because price/earnings ratios in the United States have fallen this year.
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