European stocks were little changed on Friday as a decline in utilities offset an advance in banking shares.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose less than 0.1 percent to 394.05 at 4:16pm in London, as investors considered whether a strengthening US recovery would bring forward a rate-increase decision.
The benchmark gauge earlier extended gains to as much as 0.7 percent after US payrolls in February beat economists’ predictions.
The jobless rate fell to an almost seven-year low.
US stocks dropped on speculation the US Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates.
“Stocks are influenced by risk of interest rises in the US because of a fairly strong economy over there,” said Peter Braendle, who manages about US$450 million at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich. “But the important thing is the US economic recovery is proceeding well and is running smoothly, and Europe can profit from that because they will need more goods and services, which will support the companies here.”
The STOXX 600 is poised for a fifth straight weekly gain, pushing gains this year to 15 percent, as the European Central Bank committed to start bond purchases next week.
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
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