European stocks fell this week, as a slump in commodities shares offset a record one-day rally by the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index after central banks and regulators stepped in to shore up financial markets.
The benchmark index was headed for its steepest weekly retreat since July 2002, before financial shares on Friday rallied the most in at least 17 years after the US government moved to cleanse banks of troubled assets and international regulators banned investors from betting the value of banking stocks will fall.
“I can’t recall ever seeing a roller-coaster market like this before,” said Carsten Klude, an investment strategist at M.M. Warburg & Co in Hamburg, which oversees the equivalent of US$25 billion. “The whole financial system in the US has gotten out of joint this week.”
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index fell 0.8 percent this week even after the 8.3 percent rally on Friday, the biggest since data for the index begins in 1987. The index had slumped 8.4 percent between Sept. 12 and Thursday. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index posted a record advance on Friday and Russia’s RTS Index jumped 22 percent after a two-day suspension and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge of US$20 billion to prop up the market.
National benchmark indexes declined in 13 of the 18 western European markets. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 2 percent, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.7 percent.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from