European stocks surged this week by the most in a year as concern about the economic recovery faded and investors speculated that the selloff in equities since April has overshot the outlook for earnings.
BP PLC jumped 13 percent amid speculation funds in the Middle East may invest in the energy company as it works to contain the worst oil spill in US history.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index rallied 5.4 percent this week, the biggest gain since July last year, after the IMF raised its global growth forecast and lower-than-estimated US jobless claims boosted optimism that the economy will avoid slipping bank into recession. All 19 industry groups on the benchmark gauge climbed.
“We could see the market push on quite a bit further,” said London-based Justin Urquhart Stewart, who helps oversee about US$3.3 billion at 7 Investment Management.
The STOXX 600 has still declined 8.1 percent from this year’s high on April 15 amid concern about the impact of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis on the world economy. The retreat has pushed the index’s valuation to about 11.5 times estimated earnings, near the lowest level in more than a year, according to Bloomberg data.
National benchmark indexes rose in all 18 western European markets as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England both maintained interest rates at record lows. Germany’s DAX gained 5 percent and France’s CAC 40 increased 6.2 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 6.1 percent, while Spain’s IBEX 35 surged 9.5 percent.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
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