Bourses seek direction as equities give up gains

Equities in Frankfurt unwound mid-session gains to close lower. The Xetra DAX index, which touched a high for the session of 7,963.70, ended off 67.17 at 7,864.76. Techs were mostly weak, but few clear trends emerged. Deutsche Telekom, driven up lately by acquisition news, fell back €2.10 to €89.50.

SAP tumbled 8.2 per cent, sliding €76 to €849 amid talk of a disappointing analysts' conference in the US. Siemens shed €2.65 at €154.25 in sympathy. Epcos was the main bright spot in the sector, rallying €2.50 to €160 after an earnings upgrade at Lehman Brothers.

Banks were dull. Merger partners Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank lost 85 cents at €71.65 and €1 at €44.30 respectively. Commerzbank gave up 85 cents at €42.33.

Paris had a directionless day and closed slightly lower after a weak start on the Nasdaq. The CAC-40 index lost 18.82 to 6,505.48. The slide in technology stocks continued from Tuesday, overshadowing the launch of the new IT.CAC index.

STMicroelectronics fell €8.40 to €206, Equant €5.70 to €101.30 and Cap Gemini €6.70 to €291. Internet service provider LibertySurf fell €3.70 to €66.30 on disappointment about an acquisition deal. The IT.CAC fell 0.9 per cent.

Milan ended a little lower in line with other bourses. The Mibtel allshare index lost 63 to 32,602. There was strong interest in Internetrelated stocks, such as broadcaster Mediaset, up €2 to €22.49. Mediaset said it would take a strategic stake in Internet portal Jumpy.

Madrid closed down on low turnover, with the Ibex 35 index losing 122.5 to 12,088.6. Telefonica, the biggest stock, lost 61 cents to €27.05, hurt by rumours about its chairman's future. Amsterdam fell back from Tuesday's record highs with the AEX index finishing 5.21 lower at 682.73 in dull trading volumes. Media stocks caught the eye. VNU added €2.25 at €67.40.

Helsinki had an uninspiring day, with turnover less than the average for February. The Hex general index added just 2.98 to 17,793.22.