UK TechTracker

Electronics Times, July 17, 2000

The UK TechTracker had its flattest ever week, shifting by only 0.02 points over the period to 11 July to finish at 100.11.

But that does not mean that the markets have not been full of rumour and debate.

The main topic fuelling that activity has been whether or not the members of the London Stock Exchange will finally vote for the three- way merger/alliance with Frankfurt and Nasdaq.

Many of the issues being debated come down to broker power. Both here and in Germany, there are concerns over possible dilutions of power.

But such self-serving banter - albeit of a pretty understandable sort - has also masked concerns among different sectors about where they will be tracked.

Ironically, while UK technology companies have long bemoaned the City's poor understanding of their businesses, one financial director of an LSE stock recently confided that, having spent so much time and money wooing our button-down collar boys, he was not entirely looking forward to repeating the process "in a foreign language".

Still the merger vote does matter and by the time the next Electronics Times appears we should have a clearer view of what is going to happen and what the results might be. That might in turn wake up price movements.

The top winner was Densitron International, up 19.1% to 202.50p, followed by Bookham Technology, up 16.9% at 4710p. Biggest loser was Feedback down 11.7% at 60.5p, followed by Parthus Technologies, down 11.6% at 171.5p. `Morpheus'