European stocks posted their biggest weekly advance in more than four months as US unemployment remained at a four-year low and manufacturing growth in the world’s two largest economies beat projections.
Nokia Oyj surged 41 percent this week after Microsoft Corp agreed to buy its handset unit for 5.44 billion euros (US$7.2 billion) and brokers upgraded their ratings on the shares. Alcatel-Lucent SA rose 22 percent amid speculation Nokia could bid for its wireless business.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 3 percent to 306.10 this week, its best weekly performance since April 26. The benchmark slipped 0.8 percent last month, the second monthly loss in more than a year. Still, it has rallied 26 percent from this year’s low on June 24, as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England pledged to keep interest rates low.
“All the latest data coming out of the US is quite encouraging,” David Hussey, head of European equities at Manulife Asset Management, said by phone from London. “The global economy is slowly healing, though we’re still nowhere near being given the all clear. The nub of it is whether the Fed will allow rates to appreciate more slowly, but the place to be will be in equities.”
The VSTOXX Index, a gauge of expected volatility in euro-area stocks based on options prices, slid 14 percent this week. National benchmark indices advanced in all of the 18 Western European markets except Iceland. Germany’s DAX and the UK’s FTSE 100 added 2.1 percent, while France’s CAC 40 gained 2.9 percent.
In the US, Labor Department figures showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 7.3 percent last month, the lowest since December 2008, even as employers added fewer workers than economists had projected.
And in China, an official measure of manufacturing activity rose to 51 last month from 50.3 in July, beating the median economist projection.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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