European stocks climbed for a third week to their highest since 2008, amid merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and as US payrolls and manufacturing data increased optimism that the world’s largest economy is strengthening.
Metso soared 20 percent after The Weir Group proposed a merger with the Finnish maker of rock crushers. Holcim Ltd rallied 11 percent and Lafarge SA rose 13 percent after the world’s largest cement makers confirmed they are discussing a merger of equals. Alstom gained 14 percent after agreeing to sell a unit.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index increased 1.6 percent to 339.18 this week, posting its longest daily winning streak since October. It has advanced 4.6 percent since March 24, as improving US economic data signaled that the world’s largest economy is recovering from the harsh winter.
“A sustained economic recovery gave stock markets support this week,” said Christian Gattiker, the head of research at Julius Baer Group Ltd in Zurich. “The new quarter has begun, too, where many investors take new positions. Compared with the end of March, sentiment has stabilized. There’s more room to the upside in the new quarter before the ‘sell in May’ worries may dampen the momentum in stocks.”
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday said policymakers could turn to asset purchases to prevent a prolonged period of low inflation. The central bank discussed quantitative easing among a range of measures as it left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 0.25 percent.
Benchmark indices climbed in all of the 18 Western European markets tracked by Bloomberg this week, except Greece. Germany’s DAX gained 1.1 percent, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.7 percent.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”