Amsterdam - The negative mood on the Amsterdam stock exchange persisted on Wednesday. By 13:30 pm (1130 GMT) the main index AEX stood at 273.97 points (down 3.70 per cent).

Particularly companies active in the real economy saw their share value fall. Navigation software manufacturer TomTom dropped most (down 12.26 per cent), followed by construction giants Arcellor Mittal (down 8.61 per cent) and Royal BAM group (down 7.79 per cent).

Shares of insurer Fortis holding inreased in value (up 2.82 per cent), followed by publisher Reed Elsevier (up 1.84 per cent). (dpa)