World stock markets were mostly higher yesterday on guarded optimism that the US Federal Reserve’s bold US$1.2 trillion spending plan would bring a quicker end to the worst global slowdown in decades.
By noon in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1.5 percent to 3,862.11, Germany’s DAX advanced 1.6 percent to 4,061.83 and France’s CAC 40 rose 1.1 percent to 2,789.48.
Their rise followed overnight gains on Wall Street after the Fed said it would pump more than US$1 trillion into the economy.
The Fed plans to buy up to US$300 billion in long-term government bonds and some US$750 billion in mortgage-backed securities, which would help revive the country’s sagging housing market.
The measures — aimed at propping up demand and spending in the US by driving down borrowing costs for consumers and companies alike — stunned investors around the world. The Fed hasn’t set out to influence long-term interest rates by buying long-term bonds since the 1960s.
“The markets are responding favorably to signs the central banks are taking more aggressive action to boost the supply of money available for borrowing in the economy,” said Andrew Bell, head of research at Rensburg Sheppards, an investment management company in Britain. “I don’t think people are euphoric, I think people realize the economy’s got pressure. But sentiment a couple of weeks ago was so steeped in gloom that the small piece of good news has begun turning things around.”
Meanwhile, new jobless claims in the US fell more than expected last week, but continuing claims set a new record for the eighth straight week.
The US Labor Department said yesterday that initial requests for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 646,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 658,000. That was better than analysts’ expectations.
But continuing claims jumped 185,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.47 million, another record high and more than the roughly 5.33 million that economists expected.
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Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
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