European shares fell on Friday as some downbeat corporate results and disappointing US economic data cast a shadow, though a regional benchmark index posted its best weekly gain in five months.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 0.4 percent lower on the day at 1,196.41 points, but was still up 3.8 percent for the week, its best performance in five months, on mounting expectations that the European Central Bank would cut interest rates on Thursday.
French fashion firm and luxury goods group PPR was among the top losers — dropping 6.8 percent in volume three times the average for the past 90 days, after its first-quarter sales missed forecasts.
Bucking the trend was German chemical group BASF, up 3.8 percent in three times its volume average after saying it expected sales and operating profit growth in all its business divisions this year.
Thomson Reuters StarMine data showed 51 percent of the STOXX Europe 600 companies that have announced results so far have missed analysts’ forecasts.
The FTSEurofirst 300 extended losses in the afternoon as data showed US economic growth was lower than expected in the first quarter, striking a cautious note ahead of the non-farm payrolls report on Friday.
“Next week is probably when I’ll make up my mind,” said Manish Singh, director and head of investment services at Crossbridge Capital, who has positions in European financial and pharmaceutical stocks.
“If we get a bad set of data then you have to cut your positions because it could play into the crowd thinking of ‘sell in May and go away,’” he said.
The STOXX Europe 600 index has fallen by an average 0.8 percent in May over the past 10 years, data from brokerage BTIG showed.
The benchmark index rose 3.7 percent to 295.89 this week, its biggest weekly advance since November. It is up 0.6 percent so far this month and a positive close would mark its ninth consecutive monthly gain, the longest winning streak since 1996 to 1997, strengthening the call for a May correction according to traders.
National benchmark indices advanced in all the 18 Western European markets this week. The UK’s FTSE 100 added 2.2 percent. France’s CAC 40 increased 4.3 percent and Germany’s DAX Index gained 4.8 percent.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEW PRODUCTS: MediaTek plans to roll out new products this quarter, including a flagship mobile phone chip and a GB10 chip that it is codeveloping with Nvidia Corp MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday projected that revenue this quarter would dip by 7 to 13 percent to between NT$130.1 billion and NT$140 billion (US$4.38 billion and US$4.71 billion), compared with NT$150.37 billion last quarter, which it attributed to subdued front-loading demand and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The Hsinchu-based chip designer said that the forecast factored in the negative effects of an estimated 6 percent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the greenback. “As some demand has been pulled into the first half of the year and resulted in a different quarterly pattern, we expect the third quarter revenue to decline sequentially,”
ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip assembly and testing service provider, yesterday said it would boost equipment capital expenditure by up to 16 percent for this year to cope with strong customer demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Aside from AI, a growing demand for semiconductors used in the automotive and industrial sectors is to drive ASE’s capacity next year, the Kaohsiung-based company said. “We do see the disparity between AI and other general sectors, and that pretty much aligns the scenario in the first half of this year,” ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) told an
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