Monday saw the rest of Europe fare worse than the UK, on the back of telecommunication and technology stock losses. When London closed (down by almost 0.5%) Paris was 1% lower and Frankfurt 1.6% lower. The closing figures were 1% for the CAC 40 in Paris and 1.5% for the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt. In France, the presidential elections moved towards the final votes. At this stage the Socialist Lionel Jospin was third and the right wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen was second in line with Jacques Chirac.
Tuesday was the same in Europe as win the UK. Telecommunication stocks had another battering and falls were also seen in oil stocks, with poor earnings news from companies like Exxon Mobil who missed their earnings projections by 20%. Despite some of the losses being offset later in the day, the Xetra Dax closed slightly down. The CAC 40 appeared more resilient and managed a slight increase for the day.
Wednesday saw the majority of European stocks close in the red. Again it was losses for oil and technology stocks. Gains were found in banking, drug and automobile stocks but they were not sufficient to bring the markets back to black. By close of play the CAC 40 was down by almost 1%. The Xetra Dax fared better but closed down just over 0.5%. Today saw the stock price of the London Stock Exchange itself rise, with rumours of a take-over by the Nasdaq in the US. Despite the rumours, the London Stock Exchange denied all knowledge.
Thursday saw the markets end in the red although by much less than could have been. Losses in technology and telecommunication stocks were stemmed by a recovery of Vodafone. In Germany the business confidence index had fallen in April, despite analysts predicting growth. By close of play, the CAC 40 had lost over 1.5% with the Xetra Dax down 2%.
Friday was a bad day for the markets with oil and telecommunication stocks still on a downer. News from the US was bitter sweet - gross domestic product data was stronger but markets were still moving lower. The Xetra Dax again closed lower, this time by over 0.5%. The CAC 40 also fell on Friday but only slightly. Over the week, the Xetra Dax fell by almost 5% and the CAC 40 by almost 3.5%.