European stocks posted their first weekly loss in more than a month as investors debated when the US Federal Reserve will scale back momentary stimulus and Chinese manufacturing unexpectedly shrank.
FirstGroup PLC tumbled 43 percent after the UK bus and rail company halted its dividend and announced a rights offer to avert a credit downgrade. SAP AG, the largest maker of enterprise management software, dropped the most in 21 months after changing its board structure. Bankia SA, the nationalized Spanish bank, sank 85 percent before a debt swap next week.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 1.7 percent to 303.35 this week, including the worst drop in 10 months on Thursday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank will consider paring its stimulus measures if the US economy improves. The gauge had climbed to the highest level since June 2008 before the selloff, bolstered by monetary policy and better-than-expected US economic data.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.8 percent on Wednesday as Bernanke said in testimony to US Congress that the pace of asset purchases could be cut “in the next few meetings” if the economy improves.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei-225 Stock Average on Thursday posted the steepest retreat since the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake disaster as yields on the nation’s bonds rose. The index had surged 50 percent this year before the drop, the best performance among 24 developed market benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.
China’s manufacturing is contracting this month for the first time in seven months, a release showed. The preliminary reading of a purchasing managers’ index declined to 49.6 this month from 50.4 last month, HSBC Holdings PLC and Markit Economics said. Fifty is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
Even so, European economic data showed some improvement. A gauge of eurozone services and factory output increased more than economists forecast this month, adding to signs the region is starting to emerge from its record-long recession. German business confidence climbed for the first time in three months.
Fifteen of the 18 Western European benchmarks declined this week. Germany’s DAX and the CAC 40 in France retreated 1.1 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 Index lost 1 percent.
“We don’t think that it is anything else than a correction,” Rcube SAS chief executive Cyril Castelli said in Paris. “You have attractive valuations and a much better liquidity environment.”
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
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