European stocks rose the most in more than a month this week, erasing their losses for the year, on better-than-forecast confidence data.
Luxottica Group SpA jumped the most since May 2009 after saying it will design spectacles that use Google Inc’s Glass technology.
Marine Harvest ASA pushed food and beverage stocks higher after agreeing to sell UK farming assets and saying it may pay a greater quarterly dividend.
Resolution Ltd and Prudential PLC fell more than 4 percent each after the UK financial regulator said it will investigate possible unfair charges levied on life-insurance policies.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.8 percent to 333.76 this week, paring this month’s loss to 1.3 percent.
The gauge dropped the first two weeks of this month as concern grew that the crisis in Ukraine would escalate.
The STOXX 600 has climbed 1.7 percent this year.
“There’s optimism in the European markets,” said Ramiro Loureiro, a Lisbon-based market analyst at Banco Comercial Portugues SA’s Millennium unit. “The improvement in several confidence indicators spanning many areas of the European economy has naturally motivated investors.”
A gauge of economic confidence in the eurozone rose for an 11th straight month this month to its highest level since July 2011.
In Germany, research company GfK forecast that its consumer-confidence index will remain at a seven-year high next month.
The Conference Board’s consumer-confidence index in the US also rose more than estimated.
Benchmark indexes climbed in 15 of the 18 western-European markets tracked by Bloomberg this week. Germany’s DAX gained 2.6 percent, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent, and France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.8 percent.
Luxottica jumped 9.6 percent. The world’s largest maker of glasses will design, develop and sell spectacles that use Google Glass technology, according to a statement released on Monday.
Google Glass combines a small screen, camera and audio on a device worn at eye level.
Luxottica owns the Ray-Ban and Oakley brands.
Marine Harvest rallied 8.6 percent. The largest salmon farmer agreed to sell UK farming assets to Cooke Aquaculture Inc, saying the completion will probably increase its potential dividend for the first quarter.
A gauge of food and beverage stocks rallied 4.5 percent, the biggest weekly jump since May 2010 and the most among 19 industry groups.
Heineken NV rose 7.5 percent, its largest weekly advance since September 2012.
Pernod Ricard SA added 5 percent, snapping a four-week losing streak, as Deutsche Bank AG upgraded the distiller to hold from sell.
SABMiller PLC, the world’s second-biggest brewer, jumped 6.8 percent for its best week since November 2012.
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