Wall Street faces another week of earnings reports on the upbeat after a wave of bright corporate news dissipated some of the gloom from the ongoing financial turmoil.
“A sense that the worst may be over on the credit crisis front is gradually rolling over the market, with equities cheering generally better-than-expected results for non-financials this week, and looking beyond further write-downs among major US banks,” said Douglas Porter, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets
During the week, solid quarterly results from multinationals such as Google, IBM, Intel, Coca-Cola, Caterpillar and Honeywell, have eased concerns about bottom lines in the credit squeeze.
“What a difference a week makes,” Briefing.com’s Patrick O’Hare said.
“Last Friday the market was bemoaning a very disappointing earnings report from General Electric and fearing the worst in front of this week’s busy earnings reporting period. This Friday it exits the week in an upbeat mood, basking in a sense of relief that this week’s earnings reports and economic data were better than feared,” he said.
In the week to Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 4.25 percent to 12,849.36 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 broad-market index climbed 4.31 percent to 1,390.33.
The tech-dominated NASDAQ composite advanced 4.92 percent to 2,402.97.
Bonds weakened as investors looked to equities. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose to 3.743 percent on Friday from 3.471 percent a week earlier, and that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.517 percent from 4.302 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
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