European stocks gave up early gains on Friday after a US jobs report sent conflicting signals about the US economy, reviving jitters about global growth.
Shares in London, Frankfurt and Paris all dipped after rising earlier in the session following data that showed US hiring slowed last month but that the jobless rate has fallen to an eight-year low.
Germany’s DAX led Europe’s main bourses into negative territory, closing more than 1 percent down, followed by the FTSE in London and France’s CAC.
Wall Street stocks also dropped as highly anticipated US jobs data painted a far from clear picture over the likelihood of another interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
After a tumultuous start to the year fuelled by a slowdown from Asia to South America, the focus has turned to the US, the world’s biggest economy and key driver of world growth.
“Domestic stocks are moving lower with the Street grappling with further Fed rate hike uncertainty following the January labour report, which showed smaller-than-expected job growth and stronger-than-expected wages,” Charles Schwab analysts said in a note.
Meanwhile, UniCredit Research chief US economist Harm Bandholz said the US jobs market “remains a bastion of strength.”
“The [US jobs] report unequivocally supports the Federal Reserve’s [and our] baseline view that further gradual rate hikes are warranted,” he said.
However, he added that, while the report was “undoubtedly a step in the right direction,” Fed decisionmakers would want to see “more of these signs before pulling the trigger again.”
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