European stocks retreated for a second week as Germany’s economy contracted more than forecast, the US scrapped plans to buy mortgage assets from banks and declining oil sent energy shares lower.
Metro AG, Germany’s largest retailer, dropped 14 percent as the nation’s GDP decreased the most in 12 years. An index of European banks tumbled 14 percent after the US Treasury abandoned part of a rescue plan unveiled eight weeks ago. Intesa Sanpaolo SpA lost 20 percent after canceling its dividend. Swiss Life Holding fell 31 percent as it halted a share buyback. BP PLC dropped 5.2 percent on oil’s retreat.
Europe’s Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index sank 6.3 percent this week to 205.61, bringing its two-week retreat to 7.4 percent and its loss for the year so far to 44 percent.
GRAPHIC: AFP
GDP in the 15 euro nations shrank 0.2 percent for the second straight quarter in the three months through September, the EU’s statistics office said.
Economists at Bank of America Corp, Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc predicted the slump would worsen.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said this week its 30 members would contract 0.3 percent next year, compared with a June forecast of 1.7 percent growth.
“There is a potential for disaster” in the economy, Roger Nightingale, the global strategist at Pointon York Ltd, which manages about US$1.1 billion, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
He said he prefers long-term government bonds over equities.
National benchmark indexes fell this week in all 18 western European markets except Iceland. Germany’s DAX dropped 4.6 percent. France’s CAC 40 lost 5.1 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 fell 3 percent.
Metro, which owns the Media Markt consumer-electronics shops and gets about 41 percent of its revenue in Germany, dropped 14 percent.
Europe’s largest economy shrank a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it fell 0.4 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said.
Economists expected a 0.2 percent decline. GDP last sild this much over two consecutive quarters — the technical definition of a recession — in 1996.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source