Reply #7: European bourses fall as profits booked [View All]

[ozymandius]

European equity markets gave back some of their recent gains on Tuesday as profit taking followed the previous session's run up to near four month highs.

In early trade, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.2 per cent to 1,381.47, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.2 per cent to 5,900.26, the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2 per cent to 5,191.21 and London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 per cent to 5,981.4.

EDF, the French power generator, fell 1.7 per cent to EU42.70 after the country's opposition Socialist Party said it would renationalise the company if it won next year's presidential election.

Credit Suisse cut its recommendation on EDF from "outperform" to "neutral", saying the next twelve months would be "more challenging" at both an earnings and political level. New energy laws could have an impact on earnings, the broker said, while "the context of a very uncertain presidential election also adds uncertainty".

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20060905/bs_ft/fto090520060404316101