European stocks had the first weekly decline in four weeks as concern grew that central bank stimulus measures will be insufficient to sustain the economic rebound.
Bank shares tumbled the most in four weeks after UBS AG reported a surprise investment-banking loss. Sandvik AB, the world’s biggest maker of metal-cutting tools, fell 5.7 percent as earnings missed analyst estimates. Scania AB slid 6.8 percent as the truckmaker’s sales trailed projections. Telecommunication shares rose after France Telecom SA’s earnings beat estimates and Norway’s Telenor ASA raised its forecast.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.3 percent to 265.96 this past week, trimming this month’s gain to 2.4 percent. The benchmark measure for European equities has rallied 15 percent from this year’s low in May amid better-than-expected earnings and speculation the Federal Reserve will unveil a second round of asset purchases next month to help stimulate the recovery.
“We expect to have a much clearer picture of the environment in the next few weeks and will be in a better position to take advantage of the irrationality that has entered the markets,” said Alex Moiseev, principal and chief investment officer at Dighton Capital in London.
Meanwhile, “it is better to be in cash than other asset classes,” Moiseev said.
National benchmark indexes declined in 15 of the 18 western European markets. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.9 percent, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1 percent and the UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 1.2 percent.
“The recent string of better-than-expected economic data, which culminated the US GDP figure today, has seen support for another round of quantitative easing in the US wane among FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] members,” Mads Koefoed, a market strategist at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said on Friday.
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS