DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: In Europe, the bourses started the day on the downside.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Todd Benjamin joining us now from London with the latest numbers. Good morning once again, Todd.</s>TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. The markets all in the negative column following Wall Street's sharp fall on Friday. They've been down since the opening of trading, this morning. London's off just over 3/4 of one percent. The Dax is off about 2 1/2 percent. Paris is off one percent. Zurich is off half a percent. In the currency market, the dollar's about a third-yen weaker against the Japanese currency, the euro is just over a half-cent higher against the greenback but still under parity and the pound is about a half-cent stronger against the dollar. Oil: Oil is down 26 cents, this morning, at $25.42 a barrel. Among the stocks on the move, not one you've heard about, but big mover: Blue Circle. Now, this is a U.K. building materials company; it's up 21 percent after the world biggest building materials group, Lafarge, a French company, said it's considering making an offer for the company. And in the telecoms arena, as we approach the deadline, actually, for everything to be over in terms of Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann, Mannesmann is up, this morning, on news that Vivendi, which is a French telecoms company and water company, Vivendi and Vodafone AirTouch cut a deal over the weekend, it's an Internet deal, and a lot of people have been looking to Vivendi to be a white knight for Mannesmann in its, you know, fight against Vodafone AirTouch, so a lot of folks now think that, hey, when all is said and done, Vodafone AirTouch will end up winning Mannesmann. Deb and Dave, back to you in New York.</s>MARCHINI: All right, Todd, thanks.</s>HAFFENREFFER: Thank you, Todd.
European Markets Stay Lower After Wall Street Drop; Vivendi- Vodafone AirTouch Deal Dashes Mannesmann's Hopes for Survival