European stocks extended their first weekly decline in a month as investors awaited Italy’s referendum and US jobs data gave a mixed picture of the economy to traders assessing prospects for higher interest rates.
Banks and miners posted the biggest declines among industry groups in a reversal of the moves spurred by bets of stronger economic growth after Donald Trump’s US presidential victory.
Consumer staples, utilities and real-estate shares, which had lagged the post-election rally, advanced.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.4 percent at the close on Friday, with the volume of shares changing hands lower than the 30-day average.
The benchmark was down 0.9 percent for the week as data showed US hiring picked up last month, but rose less than previously estimated in October.
The US unemployment rate tumbled to a nine-year low.
Traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance that the US Federal Reserve officials will raise rates when they meet on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
“I am less worried about the outcome of the Italian referendum, as I think the risk is known, predictable and to some extent priced in,” Paris-based Cogefi Gestion fund manager Barthelemy Debray said.
His company oversees about 600 million euros (US$640 million).
“I expect to see a rally led by a cyclical rotation by the year-end when all political events have passed,” he said.
Italy’s FTSE MIB Index reflected little panic in the run-up to today’s vote on constitutional reform, posting the best weekly performance among developed markets.
The benchmark closed little changed on Friday, erasing a drop of as much as 1.2 percent.
The VSTOXX Index of euro-area swings capped its biggest weekly jump in a month.
The STOXX 600 has advanced in six of the past 10 Decembers, posting an average gain of 0.8 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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six