European stocks declined for the fourth week in five as weaker-than-estimated manufacturing output in the US and China plus record unemployment in the eurozone signaled that the global economy is slowing.
A gauge of construction and materials stocks tumbled after China’s Xinhua news agency said the country had no plan to begin large-scale stimulus of the economy.
Bankia SA, the lender that Spain nationalized last month, plunged 35 percent as it sought 19 billion euros (US$23.5 billion) of state aid. Logica PLC surged 67 percent as CGI Group Inc agreed to buy the computer-services provider.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 3.1 percent to 235.09 this past week as all 19 industry groups in the gauge slid more than 1 percent. The benchmark measure has plunged 14 percent from this year’s high on March 16 amid mounting concern Greece will elect a government that refuses to cut spending and raise taxes, forcing the country to leave the euro. The selloff has left the gauge’s valuation at 9.7 times estimated earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Investors are not only worried about Europe,” said Henrik Drusebjerg, a senior strategist at Nordea Bank AB in Copenhagen, where he helps oversee US$230 billion. “They are concerned world growth is abating. The fronts are being formed as the Greek election on June 17 is nearing and more and more rumors go round that Spanish banks will need a massive recapitalization.
A separate gauge of manufacturing output from HSBC Holdings PLC and Markit Economics showed a seventh straight contraction, the longest since the global financial crisis.
A gauge of manufacturing output for the 17-nation eurozone contracted for a 10th month last month. London-based Markit Economics’ PMI declined to 45.1 from 45.9 the previous month. The reading for last month was the lowest since June 2009.
The STOXX 600 tumbled 1.9 percent on Friday as a report showed eurozone unemployment climbed to the highest on record as companies from Spain to Italy cut jobs.
The jobless rate rose to 11 percent in April and March, the EU’s statistics office said, the highest since the data series started in 1995. The March figure was revised higher to 11 percent from 10.9 percent.
National benchmark indexes retreated in every Western-European market this week except Greece. Spain’s IBEX 35 tumbled 7.3 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index slid 1.7 percent, France’s CAC 40 slipped 3.2 percent and Germany’s DAX slumped 4.6 percent.
Data showed a net 66 billion euros of capital left Spain in March. Spanish Minister of Economy and Finance Luis De Guindos said the balance-of-payments figures, which showed an outflow of 97 billion euros in the first quarter, did not reflect “capital flight,” and underlined how Spanish banks were struggling to roll over funding on money markets.
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
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
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