By James Langton

(May 9 – 09:00 ET) – Since there won’t be any major economic reports data out on either side of the border today, fundamentals and Fed fears will rule the day.

In Europe stocks are all down, led by the telecoms. London’s FTSE is off 43 points to 6173. France’s CAC 40 has slipped 77 points to 6437. Germany’s DAX is down 112 points to 7296.

In merger news, Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. is buying 15% of KPN Mobile NV for US$4.5 billion. Phoenix Consortium, a U.K. group is buying Rover Cars from BMW for £10, but taking on all its debt.

In a couple of key sectors, stocks are rebounding. Profits tripled at BP Amoco in the first quarter. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. saw its profits up 19%. The spin-off of Palm and a US$1 billion buyback is boosting 3Com Corp.

In Asia stocks closed down, too. The Nikkei dropped 355 points to 17844.The Hang Seng lost 124 points to 14776.

In other news Enbridge has announced a $147.375 million equity offering, it will sell 4.5 million treasury common shares at $32.75 per share. The deal is expected to close on May 26, 2000.