European stocks posted a weekly gain as the STOXX Europe 600 Index rebounded from an eight-month low on speculation the economy is strong enough to weather the region’s government-debt crisis.
Basic-resources stocks led the gains, paced by BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Group. Portugal Telecom SGPS SA jumped 14 percent as Telefonica SA threatened to bid for the Portuguese company after it rejected an offer for its stake in their Brazilian joint venture. BP PLC fell for a sixth straight week as efforts to halt an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continued.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 2.9 percent to 244.01 this past week as all 19 industry groups advanced, recovering from a plunge to an eight-month low on Tuesday. The measure has slumped 6.1 percent so far this month, on course for the biggest drop since February last year, on concern that European nations will have difficulty taming their budget deficits without harming the economic recovery.
The 10 percent decline since this year’s high on April 15 has left the STOXX 600 trading at less than 15 times the reported earnings of its companies, near the cheapest valuation since 2008, according to Bloomberg data.
National benchmark indexes rose in 16 of the 18 western European markets this week. Germany’s DAX gained 2 percent while France’s CAC 40 and the UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 2.5 percent.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday said the economy of its 30 members would grow 2.7 percent this year, more than the 1.9 percent predicted in November, as emerging economies such as China outpace debt-burdened developed countries to drive the global expansion. A report in the US on the same day showed orders for durable goods rose last month for the fourth time in five months.
“The growth momentum of the global economy is strong, and we expect this momentum to decline only little in the course of this year,” Deutsche Bank AG strategists including London-based Joelle Anamootoo wrote in a report, adding that “risks to the outlook are skewed to the downside.”
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
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