****dow to soar tonight!!******, page-7

re: ****european stocks fall!!****** European Stocks Fall, Paced by Philips, Alcatel, SAP Shares
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks declined, paced by Royal Philips Electronics NV after the company said first-quarter earnings slumped 79 percent, missing analysts' estimates. Alcatel SA and SAP AG also declined.

The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the 12 countries using the euro, erased gains for the year, with all companies on the benchmark falling. Markets slid after the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the U.S. on Friday had its biggest drop in almost two years on concern about waning profits.

``We've seen a worsening of the sentiment towards equities in recent days,'' said Francisco Salvador, head of equities at Venture Finanzas in Madrid. ``Investors have moved from seeing the glass half full to seeing it half empty.''

The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 2.2 percent to 2947.33 as of 9:34 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 600 Index lost 1.9 percent with 590 stocks declining. The Stoxx 50 Index dropped 1.9 percent as all its members slipped. All three benchmarks fell the most since Aug. 6.

Philips dropped 3.8 percent to 19.26 euros. The company, Europe's third-largest maker of semiconductors, said first- quarter net income fell to 117 million euros ($151 million) from 550 million euros a year earlier, as its flat-screen venture had a loss. Sales were little changed at 6.64 billion euros.

The Dutch company had been expected to report net income of 148 million euros on sales of 6.7 billion euros, according to the median of nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

``The numbers put Philips together with all the other technology companies that have disappointed,'' said Christophe Donay, an equity strategist with Kepler Equities in Paris.

U.S. Declines

Benchmark indexes declined in all of the 17 Western European Markets that were open. France's CAC 40 Index fell 2 percent, Germany's DAX Index slid 2.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.7 percent. June futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 1.7 percent.

Alcatel, the world's largest provider of broadband Internet equipment, dropped 3.6 percent to 8.63 euros. SAP, the biggest business-management software company, dropped 4 percent to 111.30 euros. The Stoxx 600 Technology Index was the worst-performing of the benchmark's 18 industry groups, falling 2.4 percent. The Automobiles & Parts Index dropped 2.7 percent.

U.S. benchmarks extended losses after European exchanges closed on April 15, in a sell-off sparked by International Business Machines Corp.'s disappointing earnings report. Declines circled the globe amid renewed concern that demand in the world's largest economy may be slowing.

The Dow average slid 1.9 percent to 10,087.51, its worst one- day performance since May 2003. It was down 0.6 percent at the time trading in Europe finished. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average headed for its biggest drop in 11 months, having lost 3.8 percent in today's session.

Reuters Group

IBM reported April 14 that revenue across the services, software and hardware units didn't meet projections in the final two weeks of the first quarter. Shares in IBM, the world's No. 1 computer-services company, dropped 8.3 percent, their largest plunge in three years.

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index slumped 1.4 percent on April. 14.

Reuters Group Plc, the world's largest publicly traded provider of financial information, slid 3.3 percent to 399.75 pence. Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. may announce that it will buy Instinet Group Inc. for $1.8 billion from Reuters, the Financial Times said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Nasdaq spokeswoman Bethany Sherman and Instinet spokesman Stephen Austin declined to comment to Bloomberg News. Simon Walker, global head of communications at Reuters, wasn't immediately available to comment.

Bloomberg LP, the owner of Bloomberg News, competes with Reuters in providing news, information, and trading systems to the financial-services industry. Bloomberg Tradebook competes with Instinet in the business of matching stock trade orders.

Pernod, GUS, Depfa

Pernod Ricard SA slipped 1 percent to 117.5 euros. The world's third-largest liquor company and Fortune Brands Inc. may make a formal joint offer to buy Allied Domecq on April 21, the Financial Times reported over the weekend, without saying where it obtained its information. Florence Taron, a spokeswoman for Pernod Ricard, declined to comment on the report.

Allied Domecq Plc fell 0.3 percent to 638 pence. The world's No. 2 drinks company publishes first-half earnings for fiscal 2005 on April 21.

GUS Plc lost 1.8 percent to 860.5 pence. Britain's second- largest retailer by market value will buy 33 Index shops from Littlewoods Plc for 44 million pounds ($83.3 million), Liverpool, England-based Littlewoods said yesterday.

Depfa, Fiat

Depfa Bank Plc fell 1.5 percent to 11.38 euros. Europe's second-largest provider of public finance abandoned the sale of its German unit Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG after failing to find a buyer for more than a year. None of the bids submitted met Depfa's valuation of the unit, the bank said in a statement to the Frankfurt stock exchange today.

``The board of Directors of Depfa Bank came to the conclusion that a sale was not in the best interests of shareholders,'' the Dublin-based company said in the statement.

Trading of Fiat SpA was halted in Milan after the shares fell more than 11 percent to 4.45 euros. Italy's largest manufacturer on April 15 fell to the lowest in at least 20 years, continuing a monthlong decline, after the group's European vehicle sales plunged and U.S. carmakers' stocks dropped on debt concerns and weakening sales.

William Hill, Altran

William Hill Plc declined 2.8 percent to 557 pence. The U.K.'s second-largest bookmaker said it's in talks on buying Stanley Leisure Plc's U.K. and Irish betting shops.

The company postponed a proposed return of capital to shareholders pending the outcome of the talks, according to a Regulatory News Service statement from William Hill.

Altran Technologies SA tumbled 5.9 percent to 8.27 euros. Europe's largest technology research consultant said its 2004 net loss narrowed as the company posted a gain on the sale of assets. The net loss was 2.1 million euros, compared with a loss of 92 million euros a year earlier, Paris-based Altran said in an e- mailed statement.

``In spite of the improvement in operating income in 2004, the profitability of the group is still lacking, and must increase semester after semester,'' Altran said.