European stocks fell this week, as a slump in commodities shares offset a record one-day rally by the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index after central banks and regulators stepped in to shore up financial markets.
The benchmark index was headed for its steepest weekly retreat since July 2002, before financial shares on Friday rallied the most in at least 17 years after the US government moved to cleanse banks of troubled assets and international regulators banned investors from betting the value of banking stocks will fall.
“I can’t recall ever seeing a roller-coaster market like this before,” said Carsten Klude, an investment strategist at M.M. Warburg & Co in Hamburg, which oversees the equivalent of US$25 billion. “The whole financial system in the US has gotten out of joint this week.”
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index fell 0.8 percent this week even after the 8.3 percent rally on Friday, the biggest since data for the index begins in 1987. The index had slumped 8.4 percent between Sept. 12 and Thursday. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index posted a record advance on Friday and Russia’s RTS Index jumped 22 percent after a two-day suspension and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge of US$20 billion to prop up the market.
National benchmark indexes declined in 13 of the 18 western European markets. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 2 percent, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.7 percent.
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
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