Europe's markets slipped back as Thursday's rally proved shortlived, with investors reacting to the poor US jobs figures and their implications for economic slowdown. More US profit warnings added to the gloom.

Technology companies shed their morning gains and closed mostly lower. Philips fell 2.2 per cent to €29.29, Nokia 1.3 per cent to €26.70, Ericsson 3.4 per cent to €56.50 and Alcatel 4 per cent to €31.10.

Dutch-based pan-European cable company UPC, recently one of the most vulnerable TMTs, fell 6.4 per cent to €5.29, just above its record low of €5.20. Its Dutch media peer VNU fell 2.4 per cent to €37.75, its lowest since November 1999.

Telecoms shared in the slide, with France Telecom down 2.3 per cent at €70.20 and Deutsche Telekom down 2.1 per cent at €26.62. Shares at Finnish telecom Sonera fell as much as 16 per cent at first but rallied to end 4 per cent lower at €8.21.

Software group SAP hit resistance to further rises after gains of 18 per cent in the first four days of the week. The shares lost 4.6 per cent to €124.71. Internet portal Terra Lycos fell 2.9 per cent to €9.71 after a downgrade by Deutsche Bank from "buy" to "market perform".

Infineon, Europe's second largest chipmaker, injected a ray of hope, saying there were signs of firmer demand in the semiconductor market. But it added it was unclear if the slight upturn was sustainable. Its shares fell back from 3 per cent gains in the morning to trade 1.2 per cent higher at €42.28.

Shares in Swiss chip equipment maker SEZ rose 3.5 per cent to SFr945 after it announced a $3.4 million order from a US client for wafer cleaning equipment.

Mobile phone operator Orange continued climbing above its February 10th launch price, reaching €10.44, a gain of 0.9 per cent.

That rare bird, the successful IPO, was sighted in Paris as French property services company Foncia made its debut on the Second Marche. The initial public offering was 4.5 times subscribed and raised €53 million. The shares closed at €35, a premium of 6 per cent.