DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: As noted, London's FTSE 100 not showing too much signs of heavy pressure this morning, even though it has reason to.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: It is trading to the upside, but it is under just a bit of pressure. That story and a look at the other European markets now. Let's go live across the Atlantic, Todd Benjamin is in our London bureau. Good morning, Todd.</s>TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave. This morning, British Telecom sent a real shock wave through the market when it announced that third-quarter pretax profits were down 24 percent. Now, that was at the low end of expectations, the market did not like those numbers at all, and BT's stock is down nearly 20 percent, really getting hammered today. BT blames the poor profits on increased U.K. competition on the fixed line end and, also, too many staff. As a result, it said it would cut 10 percent of management jobs; that is some 3,000 of its managers over the next six to nine months. In terms of the overall markets: London, despite the weight on BT's shares this morning, is up about more than half a percent; the Dax is up one percent; Paris is up two percent; Zurich is up more than a third of a percent. Obviously, these markets are feeling very comfortable about the outcome of the Fed meeting in Washington, and all assuming that it will be no more than a quarter-point hike. In terms of the currency market, the dollar is about a half-yen higher against the Japanese currency, the euro is little changed, and the pound is about a half-cent weaker against the greenback. I do want to mention oil: Oil is up 27 cents at $26.66 a barrel; now, that follows the latest inventory numbers out of the U.S. In the latest week, they showed a drawdown of 10-million barrels of crude, and that was a real surprise to the markets. Deb, Dave, back to you in New York.
BT Stock Hammered as Numbers Disappoint London Investors