European stocks rallied for a third week, climbing to an 18-month high, amid increasing optimism that China’s economy will sustain its recovery and US lawmakers will reach a compromise to avoid a fiscal deadlock.
Rio Tinto Group led commodity shares higher, as Nokia Oyj gained 14 percent after winning a deal to sell its flagship smartphone in China. European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co jumped 15 percent after announcing a new shareholder structure and unveiling a share buyback, while GDF Suez SA slid to a record low after saying earnings will decline next year.
The benchmark STOXX Europe 600 Index advanced 1.2 percent to 279.17 this week, the highest since May last year. The gauge has rallied 19 percent from this year’s low on June 4 as the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve expanded bond purchases, and US economic data beat estimates.
Republican defectors joined Democrats in signing a letter calling on US President Barack Obama and US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to explore “all options” to end an impasse over taxes on top earners. The US Congress must strike a budget deal before the New Year to prevent US$607 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts from coming into effect.
Obama said he is willing to make concessions in the talks if Republicans agree to consider taxes on the rich.
In China, the government under Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平) will keep macroeconomic policies stable, making adjustments as needed to deal with difficulties, a statement from the Chinese Communist Party’s politburo said.
The world’s second-largest economy will expand domestic demand, actively promote urbanization, strengthen real-estate controls and support small businesses, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the statement issued after a meeting of the ruling party’s top leaders.
In the eurozone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hinted at the possibility that her country will eventually accept a writeoff of Greek debt. Greece made a 10 billion euro (US$13 billion) offer to buy back bonds.
A gauge of mining companies posted the biggest gain on the STOXX 600. Rio Tinto climbed 5.3 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG added the world’s second-largest mining company to its “Europe Focus” list. Kazakhmys PLCA rose 4.5 percent after saying it will start the development of the Aktogay copper project in Kazakhstan early next year.
Nokia rallied 14 percent after winning a deal with China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) to carry the Finnish mobile phone maker’s flagship smartphone, the Lumia 920T.
EADS jumped 15 percent after the company changed its ownership structure to allow Germany and France to each hold a 12 percent stake. EADS also said it will buy back as much as 15 percent of outstanding shares.
Stagecoach Group PLC, which owns 49 percent of Virgin Trains, advanced 5.9 percent. The company reported first-half pretax profits of £124 million (US$200 million), exceeding the average analyst estimate of £114 million.
Wincor Nixdorf AG, Europe’s biggest maker of automated teller machines, increased 6.8 percent. The company said it expects earnings before interest, taxes and amortization in 2014 to be higher than last year.
GDF Suez declined 12 percent — to the lowest price since it sold shares to the public in July 2005 — after Europe’s largest utility by market value forecast lower earnings next year and weakness in 2014. A gauge of utilities was one of the only two industry groups in the STOXX 600 to decline this week.
Tullow Oil PLCA slumped 9.6 percent after failing to make a commercial find at the Zaedyus-2 well off French Guiana in South America.
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last