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.”
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
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
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
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