European stocks closed the week higher on Friday as optimism about the earnings season and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) pledge of continued monetary support outweighed risks of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.09 percent and gained 1.49 percent for the week.
Automakers were the top gainers in morning trade.
Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler AG gained 3.1 percent after Kepler Cheuvreux upgraded its stock to “buy,” saying its growth is not properly reflected in the share price.
French auto parts maker Valeo SA jumped 8 percent after it posted higher first-half sales and profit, and said it expected the shortage of key technology chips to ease.
Peers Faurecia SE and Continental AG rose more than 4 percent each.
A bout of selling hit financial markets on Monday as investors grew nervous about the fast-spreading Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 hampering a global economic recovery.
However, strong earnings reports and the ECB’s commitment keep interest rates at record lows for even longer helped push the benchmark STOXX 600 to less than 0.5 percent below its all-time highs.
“For now, markets seem unconcerned about either with Delta or inflation, keeping the buy-everything music playing,” Oanda Corp senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley wrote in a morning note.
Rafale jets maker Dassault Aviation SA climbed 5.5 percent on reporting higher sales and profits in the first half of the year, while UK mobile operator Vodafone Group PLC rose 2.3 percent after reporting a better-than-expected 3.3 percent rise in first-quarter service revenue.
Chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV hit a fresh record high as strong earnings forecast earlier this week prompted brokerages to hike their price target.
Eurozone business activity this month expanded at its fastest monthly pace in more than two decades, IHS Markit’s flash survey showed, but fears of another wave of infections hit business confidence.
German purchasing managers’ index (PMI) hit its highest level in nearly a quarter of a century, creating inflationary bottlenecks.
Danske Bank A/S slid 3.5 percent as it second-quarter return on equity declined to 6.5 percent, down from 7.5 percent in the first quarter and well below the level of its Nordic peers.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six