Around the World's Market: Frankfurt

GERMAN SHARES fell more than 2 per cent, weighed down by losses in Deutsche Telekom as concerns mounted about its global aspirations from merger talks between two US rivals. The DAX-30 fell 2.30 per cent to 5,119.10.

Telekom fell 2.82 per cent amid concerns that talks between MCI WorldCom and Sprint could prevent the German group from breaking into the US market. Telekom holds a 10 per cent stake in Sprint and it is thought it could build on this to seek a takeover of the company.