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.
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
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external