European stocks posted their third straight weekly advance, with the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index completing its biggest annual increase in a decade as the global economy recovered from its worst recession since World War II.
Basic-resources companies and banks, the worst-performing industry groups in 2008, led gains in the measure, surging 100 percent and 46 percent last year, respectively. Kazakhmys PLC, Kazakhstan’s biggest copper producer, soared 475 percent, as the price of the metal more than doubled. Natixis SA, the investment-banking unit of France’s second-largest lender by branches, climbed 184 percent.
The STOXX 600 rose 28 percent to close the year at 253.16, having posted a 0.5 percent gain in the holiday-shortened week as China raised its economic growth forecast. The measure rebounded 60 percent from the 2009 low in March amid record-low interest rates in the US and Europe and as governments committed about US$12 trillion worldwide to revive credit markets and stimulate growth. The S&P 500 gained 23 percent last year.
National benchmark indexes rose in all of the 18 western European markets except Iceland last year. The north Atlantic island is the Western nation hardest hit by the global credit crisis, and needed to turn to the IMF for a US$2.1 billion loan to avert a default.
Norway’s OBX was the best performer, gaining 70 percent as higher oil prices lifted oilfield-services companies including Seadrill Ltd and Petroleum Geo-Services ASA, which both more than doubled.
The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 22 percent, and on Tuesday became the first equity market among the biggest developed economies to recover its loss following Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc’s bankruptcy in September 2008. The UK joined Hong Kong, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain and Sweden as the only nations among 23 developed markets that have recouped all of their post-Lehman losses.
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