European stock markets ended mixed after a turbulent session on Friday as a profit warning from Intel Corp and concerns over global interest rates were offset by a rally from the UK's top two telecommunications companies, BT Group and Vodafone Group.
The German DAX 30 declined 1.1 percent at 5,721, the French CAC 40 eased 0.40 percent at 4,989 while the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.44 percent at 5,858.
The German stock market in particular saw declines on rising rate fears in the US, Europe and Japan, with that market full of exporters such as Siemens AG, Bayer and DaimlerChrysler.
Chipmakers including STMicroelectronics and Philips Electronics closed lower after the profit warning from Intel, though Infineon Technologies ended in positive territory.
Also higher was Vodafone Group, which jumped 8.5 percent after saying late in the session it's in talks to sell its loss-making Japanese arm to Softbank. Vodafone has struggled to turn around the unit, which is the No. 3 player in the country.
UK fixed-line giant BT Group surged 6 percent after the Times of London reported that it may be a bid target for private-equity firms that could value the company at £20 billion (US$35 billion). BT said it's not in talks with any private-equity bidders.
Adecco SA, the Switzerland-based staffing giant, reversed early losses to trade 1.5 percent higher.
Fortis Bank, which released results early because a briefcase with the draft results was stolen, fell 1.7 percent after it said annual profit rose 32 percent, or up 45 percent when excluding divestments. Its fourth-quarter results before divestments climbed 24 percent.
Carrefour, Danone and Societe Generale all declined after they were reported to have been included on a list of "national champions" that the French government wants to protect from hostile takeovers.
Publicis, the French advertising firm, advanced 0.3 percent after reporting a 39 percent rise in annual profit, at the top end of analyst forecasts. Net new business for the year was US$9.8 billion, which the company said was the highest figure ever recorded in the worldwide advertising industry.
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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