Europe's main stock markets closed sharply lower on Friday after disappointing data in the US sparked concern about slowing growth and the prospect of recession in the world's biggest economy.
In London the FTSE 100 index lost 2.02 percent to finish at 6,348.50 points, in Paris the CAC 40 fell 1.79 percent to 5,446.79, while in Frankfurt the DAX lost 1.26 percent to end the day at 7,808.69.
"Any hopes of the FTSE finishing the week above the key 6,500 level have seemingly been dashed with some far-worse-than-expected payroll data out of the US," said Jimmy Yates, a dealer at CMC Markets. "Once again as the week draws to a close the prospect of a global recession is going to be dominating the thoughts of many."
The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of eurozone shares fell 1.45 percent to 4,270.53 points.
In Paris shares in Renault lost 7.58 percent to 86.45 euros, closing at their lowest close since last March after Nissan, of which Renault owns 44 percent, reported that sales for last month fell 2.4 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, in Madrid the IBEX 35 fell 1.71 percent to 14,856.5 points, in Milan the SP/MIB lost 1.61 percent to 37,450 points, in Amsterdam the AEX lost 1.59 percent to 500.60 points and in Brussels the BEL 20 shed 0.56 percent to 4,094.38 points. The Swiss SMI index plunged 2.27 percent to 8,129.98 points.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Global semiconductor stocks advanced yesterday, as comments by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) at Davos, Switzerland, helped reinforce investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics Co gained as much as 5 percent to an all-time high, helping drive South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above 5,000 for the first time. That came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 3 percent to a fresh record on Wednesday, with a boost from Nvidia. The gains came amid broad risk-on trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of tariffs on some European nations over backing for Greenland. Huang further
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
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