Reuters: Hot Stocks: British shares slip off highs after weak U.S. tech updates

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British shares slip off highs after weak U.S. tech updates Jul 19th 2013, 08:18 Fri Jul 19, 2013 4:18am EDT * FTSE 100 down 34.15 points at 6,600.21 * Weak U.S. tech earnings dampen sentiment * Vodafone reports in-line fall in Q1 revenues By David Brett LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - British shares fell early on Friday, losing momentum after weak earnings reports overnight from leading U.S. technology firms. By 0734 GMT, the FTSE 100 fell 34.15 points, or 0.5 percent, to 6,600.21 points. The index closed at its highest level since May 30 on Thursday, boosted by upbeat economic data in the UK and United States and strong earnings from U.S. banks. "With volumes fairly light and no major economic releases today, we expect UK markets to be a touch softer heading into the weekend," said Mark Ward, head of trading at Sanlam Securities. "Whilst the U.S. banks' numbers have been generally strong, the rest cannot be said for other sectors. Last night, both eBay and Intel both fell after disappointing forecasts," he added. Google and Microsoft also issued weak updates on Thursday. UK chip designer ARM Holdings was the second top faller on the FTSE 100, down 2.3 percent. Strategists said that corporate earnings needed to be strong to justify the re-rating of share prices that has taken place since the market hit lows in June. European shares (including UK) now trade back above their average 12-month price-to-earnings ratio at 12.39 times, according to datastream. "With valuations again approaching recent highs, earnings need to do more of the work and the imminent reporting season should see company statements beginning to reflect the improving macro news," Ian Williams, equity strategist at Peel Hunt, said. Vodafone edged 0.2 percent higher after revenues met expectations. It is early days in the European reporting season but so far 53 percent of companies have met or beaten expectations, although reported year-on-year quarterly growth has fallen 3.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Starmine data. (Reporting by David Brett; Editing by John Stonestreet) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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