Cisco job cuts hit European bourses

European stocks suffered this morning following job cut announcements on Friday from Cisco and Intel, as well as today's three per cent drop in the Toyko market.

The FTSE-100 fell 0.4 per cent. Leading the fall in UK technology stocks were ARM Holdings, down 6.5 per cent, Colt Telecom, down 3.3 per cent, and Marconi down 4.4 per cent. In Paris the CAC-40 fell 1.3 per cent. In Frankfurt the Xetra Dax fell almost one per cent, with SAP and Infineon once again leading the losers, down 3.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. Prudential, the parent company of online bank Egg, saw its shares fall eleven per cent after it agreed to acquire US insurer American General in a $25bn stock deal.