No end in sight to tech blood-letting

Analysts warn that an end to the blood-letting among global technology and telecommunications stocks is not yet in sight, with some expecting markets to remain choppy until fourth-quarter results begin to emerge.

Sentiment in the once high-flying sectors is so bad that investors will not buy the shares even though many of them are becoming extremely cheap.

Investors have been dumping technology stocks as the story of great earnings growth, which was built into stock prices, unravels.

'It's a panic more than anything else,' Rohit Sobti, telecoms analyst at Salomon Smith Barney said yesterday. 'People weren't looking at the fundamentals of these stocks on the way up and they are not looking at them on the way down. It looks like an amazing buying opportunity.'

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dived 2.79 per cent or 414.91 points yesterday to 14,458.52, in reaction to the Nasdaq Composite Index losing 2.32 per cent on Tuesday.

The index has recorded seven losing sessions in the past eight and has lost 18.43 per cent in the past six weeks.

Pacific Century CyberWorks suffered another day of heavy losses, falling 8.63 per cent to HK$6.35. Dresdner Kleinwort Benson is advising clients to short the stock while going long on Cathay Pacific Airways. 'The question for PCCW is what supports its share price,' said strategist Sean Darby.