The European economy maintained a steady pace of growth at the start of the third quarter, weathering strains on confidence from the debt crisis in Greece.
Markit said yesterday that its composite index of manufacturing and services slipped to 53.7 this month from 54.2 last month, which was a four-year high. That is above the 50 mark that divides expansion from contraction, though it is short of economists’ forecast for a reading of 54.
“Eurozone economic growth lost only slight momentum in July amid the roller-coaster events of the Greek debt crisis during the month,” Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said. “The rate of expansion remained reassuringly robust to suggest that it was by-and-large ‘business as usual’ for the region as a whole.”
European Central Bank stimulus and a weaker euro are helping the 19-nation bloc to sustain growth even as turmoil related to Greece damages confidence. While sentiment in the services sector fell to the lowest this year in July, Markit said progress in the Greek bailout talks “suggest the pace of growth could pick up again in coming months.”
The manufacturing index for the euro region declined to 52.2 this month from 52.5 last month, while the services measure dropped to 53.8 from 54.4. Growth in new business across both industries also slowed this month, according to the report.
The euro began weakening after the release earlier yesterday of weaker-than-forecast purchasing managers’ indices in France and Germany. It traded at US$1.0944 as of 9:08am London time, down 0.4 percent on the day.
Markit said the euro-area economy could grow at least 1.5 percent this year provided there is no re-escalation of Grexit concerns, “which is of course by no means assured.”
Flaws in the agreement Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made with eurozone leaders last week are fueling concerns that Greece would struggle to implement the three-year program of reforms linked to its bailout funding. There is still a chance it could be forced out of the euro next year, economists say.
In Germany, the region’s largest economy, the composite index slipped to 53.4 this month from 53.7. The factory gauge also declined and exports fell.
Markit’s composite for France dropped to 51.5 from 53.3 last month, which was the highest in almost four years.
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