European stocks posted their first weekly decline this month as Italian bonds fell after a debt auction, while concern mounted that political wrangling in Washington will lead to a US government shutdown.
Vallourec SA slumped 9.1 percent after the supplier of tubing to the oil and gas industry said that the weak Brazilian real will hurt its profits, while bookmaker Ladbrokes PLC fell 11 percent as it said the operating profit from its digital division will fall short of analysts’ estimates.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Telekom Austria AG rose 11 percent as a gauge of telecom shares posted the biggest gain by an industry group on the STOXX Europe 600 Index.
The STOXX 600 retreated 0.6 percent to 312.18 this week, but the equity benchmark has still climbed 5 percent this month and 9.5 percent this quarter as the US Federal Reserve unexpectedly refrained from reducing its monthly bond purchases at its last policy meeting.
The gauge has rallied 12 percent this year as the eurozone emerged from recession and central banks pledged to keep borrowing costs low to support their respective economies.
National benchmark indices declined in 14 of the 18 western European markets this week. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.4 percent, the UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 1.3 percent and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2 percent as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party won the country’s general election on Sunday last week.
Meanwhile, Italy’s FTSE MIB Index slid 1.8 percent and bond yields jumped as borrowing costs climbed and demand fell at an auction of 10-year debt. The Italian Treasury sold 3 billion euros (US$4.1 billion) of securities maturing in 2024 at an average yield of 4.5 percent, more than the 4.46 percent yield at a previous auction on Aug. 29.
Italian stocks and bonds dropped on Thursday after former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s allies threatened to resign from parliament if the Italian Senate votes to expel him because of his conviction for tax fraud. The coalition government in Rome relies on Berlusconi’s People of Liberty Party to pass new laws.
As European markets closed on Friday, the US Congress had yet to approve a federal budget for the new financial year starting on Tuesday.
US lawmakers have to pass an emergency budget by Oct. 1 to keep the federal government operating and increase its debt ceiling as total borrowing approaches the US$16.7 trillion limit.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS