European bonds recorded their third consecutive monthly gains on speculation that economic growth will remain weak and prompt the European Central Bank to lower interest rates.
"Growth is likely to remain slow," said Angus Sibley, who helps manage 6 billion euro (US$9.9 billion) at Carr Sheppards Crosth-waite Ltd in London. "The ECB will eventually be forced to cut interest rates."
The yield on the German 4 1/2 percent note due in January 2013 fell 13 basis points last month to 4.07 percent. It rose 3 basis points in the past week, after touching 4.02 percent on Monday. The yield on the 3 percent note due December 2004 dropped 14 basis points to 2.54 percent over the month and were unchanged on the week. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
Investors sought out the fixed returns of government debt as European consumer confidence slipped in January to its lowest in almost six years. Business confidence declined for the first time in five months. An index of euro region consumer confidence dropped to minus 17 from minus 16 in December, an EU survey showed on Friday. Business confidence fell to -10 from -9. The euro-region's US$7 trillion economy may contract as much as 0.1 percent this quarter, the EU has forecast.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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