Friday's agreement is similar to a plan proposed by US President George W. Bush, senators said. The Bush plan would offer seniors a discount card that would save them 15 percent at pharmacy counters. The discount amount was less than some investors expected, easing concern that pharmaceutical sales would be significantly hurt.
The Stoxx telecommunications index has been the only one of 18 industry groups to drop this week, losing 0.2 percent. Analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston in a note Thursday questioned the outlook for the industry's profit growth, saying first-quarter gains were driven mainly by cost cuts.
France Telecom SA shed 3.9 percent this week. Its mobile-phone unit, Orange SA, dropped 10 percent. MMO2 Plc, the UK's fourth-largest mobile phone company, slid 3.7 percent, and Vodafone Group Plc, the world's biggest wireless-service provider, fell 3 percent.
RSS