European stocks rose for a second week, with the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index capping its longest stretch of monthly gains since May 2007, as investors speculated the worst of the global recession is over.
Anglo American PLC and Total SA led commodity producers higher after base metals and crude oil increased.
Tesco PLC paced an advance among retailers as investors sought shares of companies whose profits are more closely tied to economic growth.
.jpg)
United Internet AG rallied 27 percent after agreeing to buy Freenet AG’s digital subscriber-line business.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index rose 0.6 percent this week to 208.21.
The measure added 4 percent this month, gaining for a third straight month and bringing the rally since March 9 to 32 percent amid optimism the US$12.8 trillion pledged by the US government and the Federal Reserve will help to end the first global recession since World War II.
“People are on the lookout for bright spots and every time one appears it serves as a relief,” said Peter Braendle, who oversees about US$50 billion at Swisscanto Asset Management in Zurich.
“The economic data is no longer as alarming as it used to be. If we see an economic upturn, raw-material producers will continue to be in demand,” he said.
National benchmark indexes rose in 11 of the 18 western European markets. The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.2 percent, led by a rally in mining shares.
France’s CAC 40 added 1.5 percent and Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5 percent.
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
TECH EFFECT: While Chiayi County was the oldest region in the nation, Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s chip industry, were the youngest, the report showed Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report. A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018. In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said. That
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,
RSS