European bourses weaken in choppy trade

By Stacy-Marie Ishmael

Published: August 24 2007 11:05 | Last updated: August 24 2007 11:05

European shares snapped a five-day winning streak on Friday, easing into negative territory amid fears problems in the subprime market and the ongoing credit squeeze could hamper global growth.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index slipped 0.5 per cent to 1,502.3. Germany’s Xetra Dax fell 0.6 per cent to 7,470, while in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.3 per cent to 5,506.6.

Market sentiment was hurt by downbeat comment from the chief executive of Countrywide, the ailing US mortgage lender. Angelo Mozilo warned the downturn in the US housing market could tip the nation’s economy into a recession.

Weakness in heavilly-weighted financial names dragged the indices lower. BNP Paribas fell 1.2 per cent to €77.5, Société Générale slipped 1.2 per cent to €118.2 and Germany’s Allianz edged 1.2 per cent lower to €157.3.

But shares of Germany’s Nordex rose as much as 10.6 per cent to €33.3 after a newspaper reported the wind turbine maker’s two main shareholders, Goldman Sachs and CMP Capital Management Partners, who are considerin