European stocks fell for a second straight week, led by technology and financial companies, as Intel Corp cut its profitability forecast and Warren Buffett said the "party is over" for insurers.
STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, had its biggest weekly drop since December 2002 as Intel said flash-memory prices will fall about twice as fast this quarter as predicted. Allianz SE and Axa SA slumped after billionaire investor Buffett said profit margins for insurers will drop "significantly." UBS AG sank on speculation that Europe's largest bank will announce further writedowns.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index dropped 3.4 percent to 307.98, the biggest weekly retreat in a month. The regional gauge has declined 16 percent this year on concern that the collapse of US subprime mortgages and a slowdown in the world's largest economy will curb profit growth in Europe.
"The earnings outlook is clouded for a lot of companies," said Job Curtis, who helps manage about US$2.2 billion at Henderson Global Investors in London. "The jury is still out on the US economy."
Analysts have cut their profit growth estimates for this year for companies in the STOXX 600 to 3.3 percent from 11 percent at the end of last year, estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.
Banks and securities firms globally have posted losses exceeding US$188 billion since the start of last year as the impact of defaults on subprime mortgages rippled through financial markets.
The US government on Friday reported an unexpected loss of 63,000 jobs last month, defying economists' forecasts for a gain of 23,000.
Germany's DAX declined 3.5 percent for the week, while France's CAC 40 lost 3.6 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 fell 3.1 percent.
The STOXX 50 retreated 4.1 percent, while the Euro STOXX 50, a measure for the euro region, sank 4 percent.
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
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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
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