European blue-chips ended the week on a negative note yesterday, weighed on by weak bank and energy stocks, but investors betting on an economic recovery pushed autos and technology stocks higher.
Reinsurer Swiss Re was a negative influence as its shares fell after its interim result, despite a near six-fold rise in profits.
Data showing a surge in US personal spending and a rapid expansion in Midwest manufacturing provided further fuel for investors seeking signs that conditions in the world's largest economy are improving.
Companies like Dutch consumer electronics firm Philips, cosmetics giant L'Oreal and Europe's largest carmaker, Volks-wagen, are seen benefiting from any upswing in the economic cycle and all rallied on Friday.
"Cyclical stocks are still flavor of the day while investors have faith in this recovery. That's where the growth is, although a lot has been priced in already," one London-based dealer said.
The monthly index of the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago came in at 58.9 for August compared with forecasts of 55.5, helping Wall Street reverse early losses.
Optimism
"The US has clearly improved. Many economists are now talking about growth of 5 percent or more for the third quarter," said Deutsche Bank economist Mark Wall.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index closed down 1.1 percent at 896 points, with stocks to decline outnumbering those to rise by about three to two.
The narrower Euro Stoxx 50 index was 0.7 percent weaker at 2,557 points.
Both indices ended down around 1.5 percent for the week, having edged to this year's highs last week but remained trapped within broad ranges.
"In Euroland, some data has picked up which suggests the economy has bottomed out but we do need stronger evidence. Euroland has everything to prove whereas the US has shown it is on the way," Wall said.
A host of data next week including German unemployment data and the Reuters Eurozone Purchasing Manager's Index may give Europe a chance to prove that it too is on the mend.
At 6:15pm GMT in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent at 9,387 while the NASDAQ Composite Index was 0.3 percent firmer at 1,806 points.
Dealings were light in New York as many investors left early for the long weekend, with the US markets shut tomorrow in observance of Labor Day.
Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index ended down 0.9 percent, the Swiss SMI was off 1.5 percent and France's CAC 40 was 0.4 percent weaker.
Germany's DAX was 0.2 percent softer.
Philips was the biggest blue-chip gainer, rising 3.6 percent to a nine-month closing high after the company said it was confident a growing trend of alliances with telecoms firms and consumer branded firms would improve margins.
French peer Thomson rallied 4.3 percent while Germany's Epcos shot up 8.9 percent.
In Britain, pest control-to-washroom services company Rentokil Initial rose 2.7 percent after investment banks raised price targets for the group following its results on Thursday.
Banks, insurers weak
Heavyweight banking stocks were among the biggest decliners, with Societe Generale, ABN Amro and BNP Paribas all down about two percent.
Swiss Re, the world's number two reinsurer, was 3.6 percent weaker despite posting a higher-than-expected first-half net profit on strong non-life premium income growth, shaking off the impact of a weak dollar.
Dealers said investors were switching out of the stock after its outperformance of peer Munich Re by about 10 percent over the past week.
Another insurer, Britian's Royal & Sun Alliance was down 4.0 percent on renewed talk it might unveil a rights issue with next Thursday's half year results. The company declined to comment.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six