European markets extended gains for a third day on Friday, as China’s move to boost bank lending outweighed data showing slower-than-expected US job growth and a fall in German industrial output.
In a strong week for European stocks after what investors saw as a positive turn of political events in Britain, Italy and Hong Kong as well as signals on resumption of US-China trade talks, the benchmark STOXX 600 index rose 0.32 percent to 387.14, an increase of 2.02 percent for the week and its third weekly gain in a row.
Shares in trade-sensitive chemical and industrial companies were the biggest percentage gainers on the STOXX index after China’s central bank said it was cutting the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, boosting liquidity to shore up the slowing economy.
Graph: AP
Hopes of stimulus for major economies, hurt by a bruising trade war between the US and China, have encouraged investors to take risk despite lingering worries about a recession.
Mixed jobs data from the world’s largest economy, which showed US hiring slowed more than expected in August although wage gains picked up, did little to change traders’ bets on two more rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve this year.
“European markets were trading higher before the jobs data came out and reacted just slightly lower to that,” said Ken Odeluga, a market analyst at City Index in London. “The China news clearly had a positive effect on risk appetite, but it’s quite in-line with well-telegraphed intent from Beijing to provide stimulus to stabilize growth.”
Also feeding into the market are expectations that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates when it meets next week, and point to possible further moves to head off a broader downturn.
Fresh data on Friday showed an unexpected fall in German industrial output in July, adding to signs that manufacturers in Europe’s biggest economy are struggling.
However, Germany’s DAX was the outperformer on Friday, rising 0.5 percent to 12,191.73, an increase of 2.11 percent from 11,939.28 a week earlier.
It was helped by Thyssenkrupp AG’s shares which jumped 5 percent to a two-month high after a report that Finland’s Kone was considering teaming up with a private equity partner to bid for the conglomerate’s elevator business.
London’s FTSE 100 edged 0.2 percent higher at 7,282.34, an increase of 1.04 percent from 7,207.18 a week earlier.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS