Worse-than-forecast data on euro-area growth, coupled with lingering concern about a US Federal Reserve rate increase, dragged European stocks to a three-week low.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.8 percent at the close of trading in London, with three-quarters of its shares down, as data showed eurozone GDP in the third quarter increased less than economists had forecast.
The measure lost 2.7 percent this week, the most since the beginning of September.
“There are still ongoing concerns about slowing economic growth, and there are other worries about more QE [quantitative easing] in Europe versus a potential rate increase in the US, which creates a dichotomy,” London-based Robert W. Baird & Co equities vice chairman Patrick Spencer said. “The higher dollar, higher rates and slower growth make investors worry, and the numbers in China haven’t been so great lately.”
The 12 percent rebound that took the STOXX 600 to its highest level since August last week is being questioned amid weak economic figures, while the Fed prepares to raise interest rates. The equity gauge lost 1.6 percent on Thursday, the most in six weeks, on concern that higher borrowing costs in the US may hamper the global recovery, just as commodities tumbled to their lowest levels since 1999.
All STOXX 600 industry groups fell on Friday, with retail and household-goods companies sliding the most. Hermes International SCA and Burberry Group PLC dropped more than 3.4 percent. Eurofins Scientific SE slid 4.4 percent after HSBC Holdings PLC recommended selling the shares. Elekta AB dropped 3 percent after saying authorities are investigating its Italian unit for antitrust breach.
Syngenta AG was one of the few companies up, surging as much as 11 percent after people familiar with the discussions said China National Chemical Corp is in talks to buy the Swiss pesticide maker.
Energy producers and miners led declines in the STOXX 600 this week, sliding more than 5 percent. Telecommunication companies were the only ones that did not fall among 19 industry groups. They rose just 0.3 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],”