European stocks fell for a second week as disappointing economic data from China and the US fanned concern that the global recovery is faltering.
Stocks sensitive to economic growth including basic-resources and construction shares sank. Dana Petroleum PLC jumped 22 percent after the Scottish oil explorer said it received a takeover approach. BP PLC rallied for the first week since its Macondo well started spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico in April.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index lost 4.5 percent this week, the biggest drop for six weeks, as all 19 industry groups dropped.
The gauge has declined 13 percent from this year’s high on April 15 amid concern about the impact of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis on the world economy.
“Leading indicators are rolling over and turning less positive,” a team of strategists at Citigroup Inc in London, led by Adrian Cattley, wrote in a note. “Weaker macro has driven risk assets lower and the second quarter was one of the worst for equities compared with bonds in the last 20 years.”
National benchmark indices fell in all 18 western European markets. Germany’s DAX lost 3.9 percent and France’s CAC 40 slid 4.9 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 4.1 percent.
Mining companies pared some of their losses after new Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard scaled back a proposed tax on the industry.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening. Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said. Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone
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