European stocks slipped, paring a weekly gain, as miners and energy companies retreated.
A gauge of commodity producers posted the biggest decline of the 19 industry groups on the STOXX Europe 600 Index as Societe Generale SA said iron ore prices might extend losses. BHP Billiton Ltd slid 2.6 percent. Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Total SA contributed the most to a drop in energy stocks, as oil prices fell.
The STOXX 600 declined 0.2 percent to 397.8 at the close of trading, paring its weekly gain to 0.6 percent. Shares briefly erased losses after US factory-order data beat forecasts. The equity gauge has jumped 16 percent this year amid optimism European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus will revive the region’s economy, while a weakening euro will boost profits. The rally propelled valuations to the highest in at least a decade last month.
“Everything looks expensive and we’re probably due a pullback soon,” Seven Investment Management chief investment strategist Ros Price said in London. “Central banks have made asset prices go up — let’s see what they can really do to the economy. I’d say watch things carefully in April and be prepared. Yes, Europe’s recovery is picking up, but it’s still very fragile.”
ECB minutes released on Thursday showed policymakers are prepared to alter the pace of bond-buying if necessary. While ECB Governing Council members currently deem the scope of their quantitative easing program appropriate, this assessment might change over time, as higher-than-usual uncertainty surrounds current economic projections, according to the minutes of the group’s March 4-5 meeting.
The volume of STOXX 600 shares changing hands was 34 percent lower than the 30-day average, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Markets in Denmark, Iceland and Norway were shut on Thursday, while Sweden opened for a half day. All European bourses were closed for the Easter holiday on Friday and will remain closed tomorrow.
Traders also watched US economic reports, after the US Federal Reserve said the timing of its first interest rate increase since 2006 will be data-dependent.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG slipped 2.6 percent after Barclays PLC cut its recommendation on the airline to equal weight, similar to hold, from overweight.
Among stocks moving on corporate news, Marks & Spencer Group PLC added 4.4 percent after saying sales at its general merchandise unit rose for the first time since 2011. Royal KPN NV climbed 2.8 percent after saying it received interest from several parties about the acquisition of its Belgian mobile phone business base.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San