European stocks retreated this week, extending the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index’s second straight weekly decline, as healthcare and gambling companies sank and UBS AG forecast a second-quarter loss.
Sanofi-Aventis SA tumbled the most in seven months after analysts cut their recommendations on concern the drugmaker’s Lantus diabetes treatment carries health risks. Opap SA, Europe’s largest publicly traded gambling company, sank 7.4 percent after Greece said it would impose new taxes on games of chance. UBS, the European bank with the steepest losses from the credit crunch, fell 5.4 percent.
The STOXX 600 slipped 0.1 percent to 204.47. The gauge has lost 1.8 percent since last Friday, posting its first back-to-back weekly declines since the start of a rebound in March. The World Bank predicted this week that the global recession will be deeper this year than it forecast in March, while European Central Bank (ECB) council member Axel Weber said the ECB has used up room to cut interest rates.
“The big question is: will we have a recovery in global growth or will it take a while and growth will remain flat?” said Matthieu Giuliani, a fund manager at Palatine Asset Management in Paris, which oversees about US$5.6 billion. “Today we need a very clear improvement in the economy for stocks to progress.”
The STOXX 600 has retreated 4.8 percent since June 11 amid speculation share prices have outpaced the outlook for economic growth after a three-month, 36 percent rally drove valuations to 25.4 times earnings, the highest level since 2004.
National benchmark indexes declined in nine of the 18 western European markets. France’s CAC 40 slid 1.1 percent as PSA Peugeot Citroen retreated. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.5 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3 percent.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
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
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