European stocks had their biggest weekly decline in eight weeks as concern mounted that peripheral eurozone countries can’t repay their debt.
Banks and insurers led the decline as investors waited to find out how much Ireland will borrow from the European bailout fund and as the cost of insuring Portuguese government debt rose to a record. Bank of Ireland PLC tumbled 45 percent, the largest weekly drop in the benchmark STOXX Europe 600 Index.
The STOXX 600 fell 1.1 percent this past week, the biggest weekly drop since September. The gauge has still rallied 15 percent since its low this year in May as investors speculated that the world economy will grow after companies reported better-than-estimated results and central banks from the US to Japan announced more stimulus measures to prop up the economic recovery.
“After Ireland, Portugal is a likely candidate for aid with Spain close behind,” John Plassard, head of European equities at Louis Capital Markets LP, said.
The cost of insuring Portuguese and Spanish government debt against default rose to record levels, according to data provider CMA. Portuguese Minister of Finance Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said EU governments couldn’t impose a bailout on his country even as speculation mounts that Lisbon will eventually have to ask for one.
The majority of eurozone governments and the European Central Bank are putting pressure on Portugal to accept a bailout to stop contagion spreading to Spain, the Financial Times Deutschland reported on Friday.
Meanwhile, Irish officials raced to complete a deal for an international aid package before financial markets reopen next week with talks focusing on the status of bondholders in Ireland’s largest banks amid concern that the government will force holders of such debt to share the cost of bailing out its financial system.
The Bank of Ireland’s 45 percent loss came amid concern that Dublin will force some of the cost of bailing out the country’s banks on senior bondholders.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
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New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last