European stocks ended lower on Friday, with pharmaceutical stocks leading the retreat after a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official raised concerns about five medications on the market.
With few corporate announcements and little macroeconomic data to guide the market, attention was also fixed on the weakening dollar, which has broken through key levels versus both the euro and yen in recent days. According to analysts at ING Financial Markets, a weak US dollar has heightened concern regarding the outlook for activity in the euro zone and Japanese economies given the close link between exports and growth in both economies.
"Further comments in the wake of the G20 meeting over the weekend and central bank officials during the rest of the week, will therefore be keenly analyzed to see if intervention is becoming a growing possibility," they said in a research note.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index, which tracks Europe's 600 largest listed companies, was down 0.7 percent at 247.82. The Dow Jones Euro STOXX Index, which tracks companies in countries that joined the common currency, was 0.6 percent lower at 237.46.
At the close of trading, London's FTSE-100 Share Index was 0.9 percent lower at 4,760.8, while in Paris the CAC-40 Index was 0.8 percent lower at 3,798.78. Frankfurt's Xetra Dax Index was down 1.0 percent at 4,134.89.
JP Morgan strategist Rahul Shah commented that the longer-term trends are still positive for equities. He said valuations look well-supported and the outlook for earnings growth remains positive.
"However, in the short term, a weaker dollar may send negative signals to investors," he cautioned.
The big story of the session centered on comments from FDA safety advisor David Graham, who suggested that the regulatory agency has been lax in assessing the health risks of five key industry drugs.
He named Crestor, a cholesterol drug made by AstraZeneca, Accutane, an acne drug made by Roche, and Serevent, an asthma medicine from GlaxoSmithKline, in his list of drugs that require stronger regulatory action.
In Paris, speculation and talks of mergers kept the market active, with Dexia topping the CAC, rising 6.25 percent to 17 euros on the news that it was in discussion with Sanpaolo IMI of Italy over closer cooperation, which could result in a merger. Sanpaolo IMI fell 3.1 percent to 10.21 euros in Milan.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS