European stocks climbed this week as companies from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV to Bayer AG posted quarterly earnings that beat estimates and as the European Central Bank (ECB) said interest rates will remain low.
AB InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, jumped 11 percent, leading food-and-beverage stocks higher. Bayer paced gains among chemical makers as it surged 7 percent. Alcatel-Lucent SA soared 17 percent after quarterly profit exceeded projections and K+S AG posted its biggest weekly drop in more than 14 years as OAO Uralkali forecast that potash prices will plummet.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index advanced 1.8 percent to 304.15 this week. The equity benchmark rose every day this week, its longest winning streak since April. That pushed its valuation to 13.8 times estimated earnings, the highest since December 2009. More than 140 STOXX 600-listed companies reported earnings this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
National benchmark indices rose in all 18 western European markets this week. The UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.4 percent, while France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.9 percent and Germany’s DAX Index added 2 percent.
“Investors have a far more positive outlook on European equities now than before as they are hoping the economy will oblige and show an improvement next year,” Hermes Sourcecap Ltd chief executive Andrew Parry said in a telephone interview. “Expectations for profit have already fallen so much that if a company is posting slightly better earnings on depressed estimates, that’s a welcome relief.”
Analysts have lowered their profit forecasts for companies listed on the STOXX 600 since the beginning of this year. Estimates have fallen 8.3 percent to 22.09 euros per share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday said interest rates in the eurozone will remain low for an extended period of time.
He also said there are indications that the combined economy of the currency bloc is stabilizing. The ECB and the Bank of England left their benchmark interest rates unchanged at 0.5 percent, as forecast in Bloomberg surveys.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
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