European stocks had their biggest weekly decline in more than two months after a surge in crude oil to a record US$135 a barrel sparked concern that higher fuel costs will curb profits at airlines and automakers.
Air France-KLM Group tumbled the most since the week of Sept. 11, 2001, after Europe’s largest airline posted its first quarterly loss since 2003. British Airways PLC dropped the most in six months. Porsche SE led a retreat in carmakers as Merrill Lynch & Co recommended investors sell the shares and Ford Motor Co abandoned a target of returning to profit next year.
Europe’s Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index lost 3.3 percent to 319.02, the steepest weekly decline since March. The measure is down 13 percent this year as concern that record oil prices, inflation and US$383 billion in credit losses will curb economic expansion and profit growth.
“Investors are worried that this week’s spike in oil prices is a structural move, rather than just a temporary spike,” said Tony Dolphin, director of strategy and economics at Henderson Global Investors in London, which oversees about US$125 billion. “Unsurprisingly, the focus has been on those sectors where earnings would be hardest hit, such as airlines and autos.”
Crude oil for July delivery climbed more than 5 percent this week, touching US$135.09, the highest since trading began in 1983. Prices have doubled over the last year, aided by a falling US dollar and higher global demand for raw materials.
National benchmarks dropped in all 18 western European markets except Norway. Germany’s DAX Index slipped 3 percent, while France’s CAC 40 fell 2.8 percent and the UK’s FTSE 100 sank 3.4 percent. The STOXX 50 also declined 3.4 percent and the Euro STOXX 50, a measure for the euro region, slid 3.6 percent.
Investors may face further stock-market losses, options traders on the Eurex derivatives exchange said. The VDAX-New Index, which measures the cost of insuring against declines in the DAX, climbed 16 percent to 20.68, the highest in a month and the biggest weekly increase since January.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’