London shares plunged yesterday after tech stocks suffered a bloodbath on the back of poor sentiment from across the Atlantic.
Alerts from a number of key players hit sentiment both in the US and the UK.
By the close of trading, the FTSE-100 Index of leading stocks was off a hefty 109.6 points at 6,088.3.
Investors in the UK had been bracing themselves for the sea of red after Canadian networking equipment maker Nortel Networks halved its earnings forecast and said it would be cutting 10,000 jobs because of the sharp downturn in the US economy.
Texas-based computer giant Dell Computers added to the negative sentiment by making its first ever job cuts, and warning that first quarter profits would be below expectations. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard said problems in its computer business meant it did not expect to return double-digit revenue growth this year.
In the UK, tech and telecom stocks were sent spiralling.
Telecom-related stocks were among the hardest hit, with telecom equipment group Spirent heading the Footsie fallers board, dropping nearly 43p to 445p.
It was followed closely by Marconi, which was off more than 8%, or 50p at 553p.
Vodafone was off 11-3/4p at 204-1/2p, Colt Telecom was 70p lower at £14, Telewest Communications was down 4-3/4p at 134-3/4p and Cable & Wireless fell 21p to 797p.
Orange, which floated at around 639p earlier this week, continued to suffer in its first week back on the London Stock Exchange, falling 12p to 561p.
Among the tech stocks, chip designer Arm Holdings was down 7%, or 32-1/2p, at 410-1/2p, computer services group Dimension Data was off 39-1/2p at 425p, while software group Sage was 17p lower at 326p.
FTSE-250 stocks which took a battering included telecom equipment group Bookham Technologies, off 46p at 709p, Kingston Communications, down 9-3/4p at 182p and telecoms firm Thus, off 3-1/4p at 73-3/4p.
With little corporate news to ease the tension, investors flocked to defensive stocks.
Retailers were generally on the up, with chemist group Boots up 5-1/2 p at 610p, Marks & Spencer up 3p at 233p, Woolworths-to-B&Q group Kingfisher rising 4p at 475p and supermarket Somerfield 1-3/4p ahead at 100-1/2p.
