European stocks fell to a two-week low on Friday as a stronger euro and mixed earnings reports prompted investors to assess the biggest monthly advance since November.
Lenders and carmakers fell the most among STOXX Europe 600 Index groups. Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC slid 6.1 percent after its net loss widened. Renault SA and Volkswagen AG dropped more than 4 percent on concern the euro’s move would hurt exporters. Sanofi tumbled 5.4 percent after its sales missed projections.
The STOXX 600 declined 2.1 percent at the close of trading, as all 19 industry groups fell. The euro extended gains versus the US dollar as weak US data dimmed prospects for a rate hike there, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index headed for its biggest two-day drop since February.
“European markets are reacting to negative swings in the US, and with the euro stronger against the dollar, this doesn’t bode well for earnings expectations in Europe,” R&A Research & Asset Management chief investment officer Otto Waser said. “With risks bigger than opportunities, this could be the beginning of a profit-taking phase.”
While the STOXX 600 on Friday capped its biggest weekly drop since February, down 2 percent, shares climbed 1.2 percent last month. The benchmark reached its highest level since January last week, led by a rally in miners and energy producers.
The earnings season is well under way, and analysts have slashed estimates for the year. They project profit at STOXX 600 companies would slide 2.2 percent this year, before growing at a double-digit pace in each of the next three years. Data on Friday showed euro-area consumer prices fell more than forecast, even as the economy expanded at a faster-than-estimated pace.
Norwegian and Spanish equities were the biggest gainers in western Europe this month, with the OBX Index and the IBEX 35 Index up more than 3.4 percent. Ireland’s ISEQ Index was the worst performer, down 2.3 percent.
Among other shares active on corporate news on Friday British Airways parent IAG SA lost 4.7 percent after saying last month’s Braussels attacks would hurt second-quarter revenue. Restaurant Group PLC plunged 27 percent after the UK owner of Frankie & Benny’s eateries forecast a further deterioration in sales and said it has started a strategic review.
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],”