European Stock Markets decline on Retailers, telecoms (MarketWatch) (09-01-2008)

LONDON (MarketWatch) - After a modest start, European shares fell on Wednesday morning, on disappointing quarterly results by retailer Marks & Spencer and on telecom and technology shares after the warning from AT&T.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index moved down 0.9% at 350.18, with telecom and technology shares among the worst performers after U.S. carrier AT&T fueled worries about broadband demand on Tuesday.

The telecoms sector was down, with losses of 3.6% for shares in BT Group, of 2% for France Telecom and of 1.3% for Deutsche Telekom.

Meanwhile, retailers came under renewed fire in the U.K., with Marks & Spencer (shares down 16%, Next shares down 7.3%, Home Retail shares down 6% and Kingfisher shares down 5.2%.

The retail sector losses meant that the U.K. FTSE 100 index slid 1% to 6,294.70, while the French CAC-40 index lost 0.7% to 5,455.31 and the German DAX 30 index fell 0.4% to 7,820.21.

The index declines followed a poor session on Wall Street on Tuesday, when stocks plunged and the Dow industrials put in its worst first five trading days of the year ever. 

Oil and gas shares were also under pressure, as shares in StatoilHydro dropped 2.8% on missed short term production targets

It's targeting growth in equity oil and gas production to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2012 from 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalents per day expected in 2008.

Other oil and gas firms trading on the downside Wednesday included BP, down 2.9% and Tullow Oil, down 2.8%.

Still. EADS managed to outperform the CAC-40 index, down just 0.1%, after a report that its Airbus plane unit has won an order for as many as 100 jets worth $6.9 billion at list prices from Irish leasing firm AWAS.

The Wall Street Journal Europe reported, citing Airbus COO John Leahy, that though the contract was signed in December, the AWAS payment only reached the plane-maker's bank account this month.

You can read more here