European stocks posted heavy losses on Friday on the coattails of Wall Street amid disappointing corporate results and a new record high for the euro.
In London the FTSE 100 index lost 0.83 percent to close at 6,585.20 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 lost 1.79 percent to finish at 5,957.16 and in Frankfurt the DAX dipped 1.46 percent to end the day at 7,874.85.
The DJ Euro STOXX 50 index of top eurozone shares decreased by 1.71 percent to 4,445.40.
The rising euro and British pound are seen as bad news for European exporters, whose products become less competitive in international markets.
In London mining stocks dipped with the worlds' biggest miner BHP Billiton losing 0.93 percent to ?14.85 after an Australian newspaper said the group would not make an offer for US aluminum company Alcoa.
There had been speculation that BHP Billiton was considering a US$50 billion takeover of Alcoa, which has become a potential takeover target after failing with a bid to buy Canadian rival Alcan.
The report said BHP Billiton planned to make an offer of US$45 billion for US copper company Freeport McMoRan.
The FTSE's highest riser was Friends Provident. The financial services group jumped 4.25 percent to ?1.864 on talk of takeover interest, dealers said.
Elsewhere in Europe, in Madrid the IBEX 35 dropped 1.82 percent to 14,930.40 points, in Brussels the BEL 20 dipped 0.61 percent to 4,579.36, in Amsterdam the AEX lost 0.93 percent to 555.02 points, while the Swiss SMI dropped 0.91 percent to 9,105.46 points. In Milan the SP/MIB lost 1.48 percent to 41,496 points.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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