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European stock markets open lower

Friday, October 19 08:34:38

European shares dipped today, snapping a brisk four-session rally, with sentiment dampened after U.S. tech bellwether Google's unexpectedly weak results. The FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.1 percent at 1,118.98 by 0711 GMT, having closed 0.2 percent higher at 1,120.56 points on Thursday, just shy of a 14-month peak of 1,122.76 hit in mid-September.

Tech stocks felt the pinch, with Google having tumbled 8 percent on Thursday after quarterly results that missed analyst expectations as its core advertising business slowed. Among weak European tech issues, Nokia was down 1.1 percent, STMicroelectronics shed 0.9 percent, and SAP slipped 0.5 percent. "Company earnings remain under pressure... today feels very much like a risk-off environment," said Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital, which manages around $500 million of assets. "It is possible that the highs for the year are in." ( C) Reuters