Poor sentiment from US hits Footsie 100

The Footsie index of 100 leading stock has fallen 33.9 points to stand at 5400.8 at mid-morning as poor sentiment from the US hits trading on the London market.

Anglo-Dutch communications services group CMG is providing some good news, surging ahead by 15% or 31¾p to 245¼p after reporting better-than-expected results and saying there were signs of a pick-up in demand for its text-message technology.

The rise saw the Footsie 100-listed company more than make up for yesterday's falls, when its share price slid by 28¼p to 213½p due to worries ahead of the release of its half-year figures.

Shares in rival firm Logica are also surging ahead, rising by 2% or 14½p to 708½p.

Firms on the slide include telecoms stocks such as Colt Telecom, off 8p at 187p; Energis, down 2½p at 70p; Cable & Wireless, off 2½p at 337p; BT, off 5½p at 443½p; and Vodafone, down 1¾p at 131¾p.

Among the smaller stocks, Woolworths continues to rise - up ¾p to 34½p - after making its return to the market yesterday following its demerger from Kingfisher.

However Psion, the company that created the handheld electronic organiser, has seen its share price slide by 6% or 4p to 65p after its half-year figures showed it moved into the red on the back of the high-tech downturn and massive restructuring charges.