European stocks declined for the first week in three as concern about Greece’s budget deficit offset better-than-expected results from companies including Safran SA and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC.
Raiffeisen International Bank Holding AG plunged 17 percent on doubts about the impact of a possible merger with its majority shareholder. Renewable Energy Corp ASA fell 15 percent on concern about a potential share sale. Safran increased 15 percent. Royal Bank of Scotland rose 9.1 percent. Carlsberg A/S climbed 8.7 percent after forecasting increased profitability.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index dropped 1.8 percent to 245.80 this week, snapping two weeks of gains. The benchmark gauge has retreated 5.6 percent from this year’s high on Jan. 19 as concern mounted over budget deficits in Greece, Spain and Portugal, and as China moved to restrict lending and stop its economy from overheating. The measure has still rallied 56 percent since March last year.
National benchmark indexes fell in all 18 western European markets except Iceland, Finland and Switzerland. Germany’s DAX fell 2.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 slid 1.6 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 0.1 percent.
Automobile stocks fell the most among the industry groups in the STOXX 600, losing 4.1 percent. The European auto industry “cannot count on a quick recovery” in demand, even as it reaches a “turning point” this year, Dieter Zetsche, chief executive officer of Daimler AG and president of the ACEA European auto manufacturers’ association, said on Tuesday.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
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