European stocks rose as oil's biggest weekly drop in two months eased concern that higher fuel costs will curb profits at airlines and leisure companies.
British Airways PLC, Europe’s third-largest carrier, surged the most in four years and Deutsche Lufthansa AG rose as crude declined from record levels. Carnival Corp, the world’s biggest cruise-line company, had its steepest advance in four weeks. Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, paced gains among technology shares as Dell Inc posted better-than-estimated earnings.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index added 1 percent to 322.12. Concern that record oil prices, inflation and US$386.7 billion in credit losses will slow economic growth has pushed the index down 20 percent from a six-year high in June last year. The measure lost 0.3 percent last month.
“We had a correction in oil prices which is favorable from the point of view of the market,” said Andrew Popper, chief investment officer at SG Hambros in London, who helps manage the equivalent of US$13.7 billion. “Overall, the environment is not as negative.”
Crude oil, which reached a record US$135.09 on May 22, retreated 3.7 percent this week, the steepest drop since March, as a US report on Thursday showed gasoline use declining from a year earlier.
National indexes advanced in 14 of the 18 western European markets. France’s CAC 40 added 1.6 percent, and Germany’s DAX climbed 2.2 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.6 percent. The STOXX 50 increased 0.4 percent, while the Euro STOXX 50, a measure for the euro area, rose 1.4 percent.
British Airways soared 13 percent. Lufthansa, Europe’s second-biggest airline, rallied 7.6 percent. Fuel accounts for 30 percent of airlines’ costs, according to research by Credit Suisse Group.
More than a dozen carriers have collapsed in the past six months after the price of oil jumped more than 40 percent.
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
PEACE AT LAST? UN experts had warned of threats and attacks ahead of the voting, but after a turbulent period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance. The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh. China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina
FAST-TRACK: The deal is to be sent to the legislature, but time is of the essence, as Trump had raised tariffs on Seoul when it failed to quickly ratify a similar pact Taiwan and the US on Thursday signed a trade agreement that caps US tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 percent and provides preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural exports, including cars, and beef and pork products. The Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade confirms a 15 percent US tariff for Taiwanese goods, and grants Taiwanese semiconductors and related products the most-favorable-treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Executive Yuan said. In addition, 2,072 items — representing nearly 20 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the US — would be exempt from additional tariffs and be subject only to
The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday released the first images from its Formosat-8A satellite, featuring high-resolution views of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Tainan’s Anping District (安平), Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor (興達港), Japan’s National Stadium in Tokyo and Barcelona airport. Formosat-8A, named the “Chi Po-lin Satellite” after the late Taiwanese documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), was launched on Nov. 29 last year. It is designed to capture images at a 1m resolution, which can be sharpened to 0.7m after processing, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor, Formosat-5, the agency said. It is the first of TASA’s eight-satellite Formosat-8 constellation to be sent into orbit and
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