European stocks advanced for a sixth week, posting their longest winning streak since August last year, as signs emerged the US Federal Reserve would not rush to reduce the pace of its stimulus, outweighing data that showed the euro-area economic recovery was faltering.
TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC rallied 12 percent after raising its revenue-growth target. Swiss Life Holding AG jumped to a five-year high after naming a new CEO. Bouygues SA rose 5 percent after reporting better-than-estimated earnings. Serco Group PLC posted the biggest drop in more than 22 years after forecasting a profit decline next year.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.1 percent to 323 this week. The 600-share regional benchmark has surged 15 percent this year, reaching its highest level since May 2008, as central banks around the world pledged to continue their support for economic growth. The Euro STOXX 50 Index, a measure for euro-area shares, gained 0.7 percent this week.
In the US, equities extended records as US Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen, nominated to succeed Ben Bernanke as Fed chairman, said she would ensure the US$85 billion in monthly bond purchases are not scaled back too soon. The recovery in the world’s largest economy remains fragile, she said at her senate confirmation hearing.
“Yellen is not going to taper until the very earliest March, and maybe later,” said James Butterfill, head of global equity strategy at Coutts & Co in London. “That is positive for income stocks and generally stocks. Our view is that there is probably not huge upside coming into the year-end but over the longer run, equities are not overvalued, more like fairly valued.”
Data showed that France’s economy unexpectedly shrank in the third quarter, while German GDP slowed and Italy extended its recession.
That led to a slowdown in euro-area growth, where GDP expanded 0.1 percent in the three months through September, compared with 0.3 percent growth in the second quarter, according to a report from the EU’s statistic office in Luxembourg.
National benchmark indices rose in 11 of the 18 Western European markets. Germany’s DAX gained 1 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2 percent. France’s CAC 40 added 0.8 percent.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
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