By Simon Kennedy
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks dropped in early trading Friday, with mobile-phone giant Nokia Corp. (FI:NOK1V 7.48, -0.68, -8.33%) (NOK 10.88, -0.85, -7.25%) slumping more than 8% after it announced a strategic alliance with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT 27.50, -0.47, -1.68%) and outlined its new strategy. French cosmetics group L'Oreal (FR:OR 85.30, -4.19, -4.68%) was another faller, dropping 5.5% after it reported results late Thursday, while Michelin SCA (FR:ML 57.70, +0.62, +1.09%) rose 3% after reporting a sharp rebound in earnings. Among the major indexes, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 (UK:UKX 6,012, -8.08, -0.13%) fell 0.4% to 5,993.45, the French CAC 40 dropped 0.6% to 4,070.58 and the German DAX 30 (DX:DAX 7,327, -12.97, -0.18%) fell 0.5% to 7,305.02. |
