European shares on Friday closed higher, extending gains after impressive US jobs data bolstered sentiment buoyed by positive statements from Washington regarding trade talks with China.
The pan-European STOXX 600 on Friday finished up 4.70 points, or 1.2 percent, at 407.36, helping erase nearly all of a tumultuous week’s losses from a close of 407.43 on Nov. 29.
Stocks swung wildly this week on conflicting statements and reports regarding the progress of US-China trade negotiations, as well as some weak economic indicators from Europe.
Data on Friday showed that US job growth last month increased by the most in 10 months, confirming that the US economy remained on a moderate expansion path. That helped quell some fears of a negative rub-off on growth from a trade war with China.
“The market has been looking at the data with rapt attention, and of course we had what could be called a blowout number,” City Index market analyst Ken Odeluga said. “The possibility of the beginnings of some sort of slowdown tends to be obliviated by a reading like that, and the details tend to support it as well.”
This added to optimism that stemmed from comments by US President Donald Trump on Friday that discussions with China were “moving right along,” which was later echoed by US National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow.
From their end, Chinese officials said that they would waive import tariffs for some soybeans and pork shipments from the US.
Gains on the day in Europe were broad-based and led by commodity-linked stocks.
Retail shares were also in the top mix, with Marks & Spencer Group PLC rising 4.1 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co upgraded the stock from “underweight” to “neutral.”
London’s FTSE 100 on Friday gained 101.81 points, or 1.4 percent, to 7,239.66, its best day in more than four months as sterling weakened and energy firms rode oil prices higher.
However, on the week the FTSE posted its worst loss in two months, falling 1.5 percent from 7,346.53 on Nov. 29.
Investors are bracing for an action-packed week as Britons go to vote on Thursday, with opinion polls suggesting that the ruling Conservative Party would win an outright majority needed for Britain’s smooth exit from the EU.
Limiting gains on the Frankfurt index were figures showing that Germany’s industrial output unexpectedly dropped in October, reviving worries over the growth outlook of Europe’s economic powerhouse.
The DAX on Friday rose 111.78 points, or 0.9 percent, to 13,166.58, a drop of 0.5 percent from 13,236.38 a week earlier.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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