DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: In the wake of yesterday's selling of technology stocks in the United States, there is pressure on the European markets. Philip Coggan of the "Financial Times" is standing by in that newspaper's London bureau with a report for us. And it looks like London actually is holding up the best of all.</s>PHILIP COGGAN, "FINANCIAL TIMES": Yes, it is, Deborah. But it's still down at a 16-month low. We've seen the FTSE fall below 5900. We've generally seen European markets also reaching their lowest levels since late 1999. We've got some bad economic figures out of Germany. Fourth- quarter GDP growth was only 0.2 percent, and the third quarter was revised down. And the euro zone purchasing managers index also fell. So that's leading to some hope that the European Central Bank, which meets at lunchtime today in European time, might actually cut rates. But it's still an outside chance so far.</s>MARCHINI: OK, I'm going to assume there's no link between the market's performance and an increased consumption of beer made by Heineken.</s>COGGAN: Well, it could be. You know, we all need a drink after the fall in the Nasdaq after last year. Heineken's come out with profits which are up 20 percent. And it said that 2001 outlook looks very good. It's bought a lot of beer companies -- Cruzcampo in Spain, for example. Beers like Amstel Light are selling very well. And, generally, this is a classic defensive stock in this kind of market.</s>MARCHINI: All right, Philip Coggan at the "FT," thanks so much.
'Financial Times': Techs Bruise Europe