International stock market traders are preparing for a gloomy week.

Friday's falls:

Tokyo, Nikkei: down 1.8% London, FTSE 100: down 0.75% Paris, Cac-40: down 1.9% Frankfurt, Dax: down 1.0% New York, Dow Jones index: down 0.4%

Their sentiments are weighed down by heightened concerns about the health of some of the world's largest companies, and by growing scepticism about the sustainability of an economic recovery.

European stock markets fell to their lowest levels since last autumn on Friday after recent scandals in the US world of business had spooked investors.

Profit warnings from leading firms, including the chip maker Intel, and continuing political tension in several regions of the world added to the negative sentiment.

Signs of strength

But a recovery in the US late on Friday has led some analysts to rule out a massive sell-off early this week.

"We certainly say the Armaggedon view is overdone," said HSBC equity strategist, Steve Russell.

"We can't see any reason for a steep drop in the market like we saw in September.

"There is nothing in particular that is new that should drive the market down to the lows we saw in September.

"The big problem is that there is nothing new to push it up, so we are still caught in limbo with a negative slant to it."

Traders' focus

Central on investors' radar screens will be the Finnish mobile phone firm Nokia which is due to deliver a trading update on Tuesday.

"This is a lead indicator for technology in Europe because there are a lot of companies that live off the mobile phone food chain," said Robert Sellar, technology specialist at Aberdeen Asset Management.

"Hopefully, Nokia will help trigger a bounce."

Media firms will also be eyed by traders.

Economists will scrutinise a slew of US data out during the second half of the week, including the Federal Reserve's "beige book" which describes economic activity, as well as the latest data on producer prices, retail sales and consumer confidence.

In the UK, economists will look at retail sales figures and an influential survey of the service sector.