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Miners drag down London market as tech stocks struggle

European stock markets fell on Friday as heavyweight mining issues dragged London trading lower and the high-tech sector got a shock profit warning from US computer giant Dell, dealers said.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares sank 0.89 percent to 5,719.7 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index shed 1.71 percent to 5,451.01 points and the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.96 percent to 4,818.55.

The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of leading eurozone shares lost 0.91 percent to 3,557.08 points.

The euro stood at US$1.2684.

As European markets closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had given up 0.48 percent to 10,875.91 in New York and the NASDAQ Composite was off 0.79 percent at 2,023.34.

The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index showed a loss of 0.47 percent at 1,243.23.

In Asia, Tokyo's benchmark NIKKEI-225 index declined 0.84 percent to 14,821.26 points, while Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index closed flat at 16,464.18 points.

In Frankfurt, German semi-conductors giant Infineon saw its share price dive 6.84 percent to 8.31 euros (US$10.48) after unveiling disappointing third-quarter results.

In Stockholm, Ericsson shares lost 0.87 percent to 22.90 Swedish kronor after the Swedish telecoms group posted a slight drop in second-quarter profit.

In Helsinki trade, shares in Nokia fell 2.18 percent to 15.28 euros, triggered by disappointment over the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer's mixed second-quarter earnings report.

Meanwhile, metal prices got hammered again, sending mining stocks lower in London.

Antofagasta sank 4.77 percent to 389.50 pence, BHP Billiton was down 3.36 percent at 1,006 pence and Rio Tinto lost 3.78 percent to 2,623.

In Paris, STMicroelectronics was typical of the high-tech shares that suffered from Dell's profit warning, it lost 3.76 percent to 11.77 euros.

Auto stocks broke down too after Ford posted an unexpected second-quarter loss in the US.

Peugeot shed 4.31 percent to 78.85 euros and Renault lost 3.25 percent to 78.85 euros.

In Amsterdam, the AEX index was off by 0.55 percent at 436.30 points, the Swiss SMI was down 0.54 percent at 7,618.14, in Milan the SP/MIB gave up 0.82 percent to 35,592, in Madrid the IBEX-35 bucked the trend, edging up by 0.18 percent to 11,446.4 and in Brussels the BEL-20 closed 0.71 percent lower at 3,660.40.
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