fresh from the press:
HELSINKI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Shares in Finland's Nokia fell to November 1999 levels on Friday after a UBS Warburg downgrade and pessimistic overnight comments about the handset market from rivals Philips and Siemens . Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, traded 6.7 percent lower at 31.20 euros ($28.76) by 1300 GMT, off an earlier low of 30.57 euros and underperforming the Dow Jones European Technology index, which was down 4.23 percent.
The shares touched a life-high of 65 euros last June.
Swedish group Ericsson, the world's third-biggest mobile phone maker, was off 5.4 percent at 96.5 Swedish crowns ($9.98) ($10.24). Siemens was off 2.6 percent at 144.10 euros, while Philips was down 2.7 percent at 36.58 euros.
"We are now clearly in a negative downturn because of persistent negative news in the sector, the UBS downgrade, and comments from Siemens about a weakening handset market," said Helsinki-based Evli Securities analyst Petri Korpineva who has a "buy" rating on Nokia and "accumulate" for Ericsson.
"There's no clear resistance level for Nokia at the moment as there is a generally bad market feeling about the sector," he added.
Earlier UBS global technology analyst Pip Coburn removed Nokia from his list of top-ten global technology stock picks.
Analysts said the negative sentiment about the mobile phone market had increased since last month when Nokia reported strong full-year earnings but gave a very cautious 2001 outlook, including expectations of flat earnings for the first quarter.
Korpineva said Nokia's stock was under the most pressure because of the company's large exposure to handset sales, controlling 32 percent of the global market.
He also said investors were worried that Nokia's first-half 2001 results may be worse than earlier expected.
Two-thirds of Nokia's total sales come from handsets.
SIEMENS ADDS FUEL TO FIRE
Germany's Siemens, the world's fourth-largest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it saw a sluggish mobile phone market in the first half of this year.
Shares in mobile phone makers have been under pressure since January, when major producers started cutting their forecasts for the number of phones they expect to be sold this year.
Only 500 million mobile phones are expected to be sold in 2001, compared with earlier forecasts of 525-575 million, as the global economy slows, handset demand eases and competition intensifies.
On Thursday, Siemens' mobile communications head, Rudi Lamprecht, said that he saw pressure in the sector continuing and said not all handset makers would be able to maintain the pace.
Dutch electronics maker Philips -- which also makes handsets -- reported lower-than-expected 2000 net profits on Thursday and predicted an early slowdown in certain markets.
Ericsson announced last month that it was pulling out of mobile phone manufacturing because of continued high losses in the division. U.S. electronics manufacturer Flextronics International will start producing Ericsson phones.
HELSINKI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Shares in Finland's Nokia
The shares touched a life-high of 65 euros last June.
Swedish group Ericsson
"We are now clearly in a negative downturn because of persistent negative news in the sector, the UBS downgrade, and comments from Siemens about a weakening handset market," said Helsinki-based Evli Securities analyst Petri Korpineva who has a "buy" rating on Nokia and "accumulate" for Ericsson.
"There's no clear resistance level for Nokia at the moment as there is a generally bad market feeling about the sector," he added.
Earlier UBS global technology analyst Pip Coburn removed Nokia from his list of top-ten global technology stock picks.
Analysts said the negative sentiment about the mobile phone market had increased since last month when Nokia reported strong full-year earnings but gave a very cautious 2001 outlook, including expectations of flat earnings for the first quarter.
Korpineva said Nokia's
He also said investors were worried that Nokia's first-half 2001 results may be worse than earlier expected.
Two-thirds of Nokia's total sales come from handsets.
SIEMENS ADDS FUEL TO FIRE
Germany's Siemens, the world's fourth-largest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it saw a sluggish mobile phone market in the first half of this year.
Shares in mobile phone makers have been under pressure since January, when major producers started cutting their forecasts for the number of phones they expect to be sold this year.
Only 500 million mobile phones are expected to be sold in 2001, compared with earlier forecasts of 525-575 million, as the global economy slows, handset demand eases and competition intensifies.
On Thursday, Siemens' mobile communications head, Rudi Lamprecht, said that he saw pressure in the sector continuing and said not all handset makers would be able to maintain the pace.
Dutch electronics maker Philips -- which also makes handsets -- reported lower-than-expected 2000 net profits on Thursday and predicted an early slowdown in certain markets.
Ericsson announced last month that it was pulling out of mobile phone manufacturing because of continued high losses in the division. U.S. electronics manufacturer Flextronics International
