European stocks rose for a second day, extending a three-month high, amid investor optimism about global growth, while gains in healthcare companies helped offset declines in banks.
AstraZeneca PLC led drugmakers higher with a 1.6 percent advance.
ABN Amro Group NV climbed 3.4 percent on its first day of trading in Amsterdam after an initial public offering.
Glencore PLC fell 1.8 percent as miners erased earlier gains. Barclays PLC led lenders lower, falling 3.5 percent after Morgan Stanley cut its rating to equal weight, citing risks to consensus earnings estimates.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent to 381.78 at the close of trading. Shares have rebounded 13 percent since a September low amid optimism that the European Central Bank (ECB) will add to stimulus measures.
ECB President Mario Draghi today reinforced this view, saying the ECB will do what is necessary to raise inflation toward its target. Stocks posted a 3.3 percent weekly advance, after US Federal Reserve minutes indicated the US economy can withstand higher borrowing costs, while officials reiterated that increases will be gradual.?
“Higher interest rates are now being viewed positively,” London-based Robert W. Baird & Co equities vice chairman Patrick Spencer said.
“The interest rate hike is coming because the economy is performing better than expected, and if that’s the case, that bodes well for equities in general,” he said.
Among other shares moving on corporate news, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC rose 1.8 percent on speculation that British American Tobacco PLC is arranging financing to make a bid.
K+S AG fell 1.2 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG downgraded the German potash producer to underperform, similar to sell, from neutral, after cutting its price estimates for the commodity.
A gauge of energy companies posted the biggest decline of the 19 industry groups on the STOXX 600 amid falling oil prices, with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BG Group losing at least 1.7 percent.
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