European stocks posted their first back-to-back weekly gains since May as better-than-estimated earnings and lower oil prices fueled a rally in carmakers and banks climbed on speculation that credit-market losses will abate.
Volkswagen AG, Fiat SPA and PSA Peugeot Citroen advanced after the automakers reported profit that exceeded projections and crude fell for a third consecutive week. Credit Suisse Group AG, the second-biggest Swiss bank, rallied the most since March 2003 on earnings that were almost double what analysts expected.
Europe’s Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index increased 0.4 percent this week to 281.76, extending its rebound from a three-year low on July 15 to 5.7 percent. The measure has tumbled 23 percent this year after US$467 billion of credit losses and asset writedowns at banks prolonged the global economy’s slump and inflation eroded profits.
The STOXX 600’s rally from its low this month was led by bank and consumer shares as earnings from Credit Suisse to Citigroup Inc topped estimates and oil tumbled more than 15 percent from its all-time high on July 11. Second-quarter profits at financial firms in the STOXX 600 that reported results so far exceeded analysts’ projections by 15 percent, while consumer-goods makers beat expectations by 7.8 percent, Bloomberg data show.
National benchmark indexes gained in six of the 18 western European markets. The Swiss Market Index added 2.8 percent, and France’s CAC 40 increased 1.8 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent, while Germany’s DAX climbed 0.9 percent.
The STOXX 50 rose 0.7 percent and the Euro STOXX 50, a measure for the euro region, advanced 0.9 percent.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary