European stocks rose for a second week as positive reports on US services and home sales offset payroll data that missed economists’ estimates and lingering concern that the sovereign-debt crisis will spread.
Ryanair Holdings PLC, Europe’s largest discount airline, gained 9.6 percent after saying it made a profit and will pay its first-ever dividend. Raiffeisen International Bank Holding AG, the Austrian bank that operates in 17 former communist countries in eastern Europe, led financial stocks lower as Hungary said its economy is in a “grave” situation. BP PLC plunged 17 percent as it failed to halt the worst oil spill in US history.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent to 244.53, extending the previous week’s 2.9 percent rally. The measure has still fallen 10 percent from this year’s high on April 15 as investors speculated that efforts to contain Europe’s debt crisis will choke off the economic recovery. The decline has left the measure trading at less than 15 times the reported earnings of its companies, near the cheapest valuation since 2008, Bloomberg data shows.
“There are two factors influencing the market and we’re caught between them,” said Jerome Forneris, who helps manage US$11 billion at Banque Martin Maurel in Marseille, France. “US economic statistics are good for the most part, while in Europe, the numbers are conflicting and we have trouble seeing the direction we’re taking. At the same time, investors are worried about budget deficits in Europe and austerity programs, which can weigh on growth.”
National benchmark indexes fell in 12 out of the 18 western European markets. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1 percent and France’s CAC 40 lost 1.7 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 declined 1.3 percent.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a