European stocks rose for a second week, with the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index capping its longest stretch of monthly gains since May 2007, as investors speculated the worst of the global recession is over.
Anglo American PLC and Total SA led commodity producers higher after base metals and crude oil increased.
Tesco PLC paced an advance among retailers as investors sought shares of companies whose profits are more closely tied to economic growth.
United Internet AG rallied 27 percent after agreeing to buy Freenet AG’s digital subscriber-line business.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index rose 0.6 percent this week to 208.21.
The measure added 4 percent this month, gaining for a third straight month and bringing the rally since March 9 to 32 percent amid optimism the US$12.8 trillion pledged by the US government and the Federal Reserve will help to end the first global recession since World War II.
“People are on the lookout for bright spots and every time one appears it serves as a relief,” said Peter Braendle, who oversees about US$50 billion at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich.
“The economic data is no longer as alarming as it used to be. If we see an economic upturn, raw-material producers will continue to be in demand,” he said.
National benchmark indexes rose in 11 of the 18 western European markets. The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.2 percent, led by a rally in mining shares.
France’s CAC 40 added 1.5 percent and Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5 percent.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique