European Markets
A wave of negative tech news out of the U.S. on Thursday is causing a flight to old economy stocks in Europe on Friday, driving the markets downward.
London's FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at midday Friday, paced by an 8.8% fall by network equipment maker Marconi.
The CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.9%, led by a 7.3% dip by Alcatel SA and a 7.3% loss from semiconductor maker STMicroelectronics.
Frankfurt's XetraDax had the biggest decline at 1.1%, with STM rival Infineon Technologies down 4.3%.
Elsewhere in Europe on Friday, the AEX index in Amsterdam slipped 0.8%, and the SMI in Zurich declined 0.6%.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index was down 0.85% at midday. The technology-manufacturing sub-index had lost five percent.
Asian Markets
Weakness in auto stocks compounded the weakness in technology on the major Asian indices on Friday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average closed down 1.1% on the day. The Nortel profit warning dragged the fibre-optics sector down, and auto stocks fell after negative news out of Honda Motor and Mitsubishi Motors.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost one per cent on Friday, driven down by property firm Hysan Development, and a 1.7% fall by mobile phone group China Mobile.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.1%, Sydney's S& P/ASX 200 index shed 0.2%, and the Taiwan Weighted index in Taipei lost one per cent.
