Europe's telecommunications stocks, which have enjoyed a bull run for the past 10 weeks, yesterday shed some more of their gains. The sector fell about 2 per cent - with KPN the worst performer following news of its €5 billion equity offering.

It also released third-quarter results, showing a net loss of €231 million - but vowed to cut debt from the current €22 billion to €14 billion by the end of next year. KPN's shares had more than tripled since early September, but yesterday they shed more than 17 per cent to €4.99.

France Telecom was also sharply lower, as investors sold its shares to buy its €3 billion convertible bond, launched late on Tuesday. The issue, a record convertible from a European company, is another part of France Telecom's efforts to reduce its €65 billion of debt. The shares closed 7.1 per cent down at €45.52.

Swisscom slipped in spite of its third-quarter results beating expectations. The shares have far outperformed other European telecom stocks this year, so some profit-taking was not a surprise. They closed at 443.50 Swiss francs, down 1.3 per cent.

Swisscom said it expected full-year earnings at the EBITDA level to exceed last year, and sales to be marginally higher. This represents an upgrade on its last forecast three months ago.

Swisscom's neighbour, Telekom Austria, also reported nine-month results, which showed a 37 per cent rise in earnings - again ahead of market expectations. Telekom Austria, which has bucked the trend with a rise this year, yesterday added another 1.3 per cent to €9.11.

In technology stocks, electronic components maker Epcos shed another 5.3 per cent to €53.30 following Tuesday's fourth-quarter results. Meanwhile, utilities found ready takers on a day when the growth end of the equity spectrum shed some of its new-found shine. Eon gained 1.9 per cent at €59.75. Suez, partly boosted by top management changes, jumped to €35.55 before closing 3 per cent higher at €34.77.