European stocks rose last week, sending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index to its biggest gain since March last year, after governments announced bank rescue packages to shore up the financial system and restore investor confidence.
Credit Suisse Group AG posted a record weekly advance and Barclays Plc climbed 6.5 percent as European leaders agreed to guarantee new bank debt and money-market rates declined. Ericsson AB rallied 12 percent as its mobile-phone venture with Sony Corp reported a smaller-than-estimated loss.
The Stoxx 600 added 4.5 percent to 214.27. The gauge jumped 13 percent in the first two days last week, the biggest two-day surge on record, before posting the steepest two-day tumble since 1987 after reports showed a drop in U.S. retail sales and the highest UK unemployment since November 2006.
The benchmark index for European equities is down 41 percent this year as credit losses and asset writedowns at financial firms worldwide reached US$660 billion, pushing the global economy toward a recession.
“The government measures were a huge progress to win back trust,” said Erwin Brunner, who oversees the equivalent of US$442 million as executive officer at BrunnerInvest AG in Zurich. “The slump in the US remains the dominant factor and Europe follows. I can’t see how the economy can grow given the financial problems, we will go into a recession.”
The US said it would invest US$250 billion in the nation’s banks and urged lenders to use the funds to spur economic growth. The injection came after France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria pledged 1.3 trillion euros (US$1.8 trillion) to guarantee bank loans and take stakes in lenders.
National benchmark indexes rose in 11 of the 18 western European markets. Germany’s DAX Index increased 5.2 percent. France’s CAC 40 advanced 4.8 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 added 3.3 percent.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
RSS