European stocks fell as declines by commodity producers and concern that the three-month surge by the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index has outpaced prospects for earnings offset a rally in health-care shares.
BP PLC, Total SA and BHP Billiton Ltd led raw-material stocks lower after base metals and oil slipped following a record plunge in industrial production in Europe. Vedanta Resources PLC sank 8.5 percent after India’s largest producer of the metal announced the sale of US$1 billion in convertible bonds. GlaxoSmithKline PLC jumped 5.4 percent as the World Health Organization declared the first influenza pandemic since 1968.
The STOXX 600 slipped 0.2 percent to 214.35, trimming its fourth straight weekly gain to 1.7 percent. The gauge has surged 36 percent since March 9 on speculation the US$12.8 trillion pledged by the US government and Federal Reserve will end the first global recession since World War II.
The European index is valued at 25.5 times the profits of its companies, the most expensive level since 2004, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Corporate earnings in the region will rebound by 15 percent next year after a 25 percent tumble this year, according to strategists at UBS AG.
National benchmark indexes fell in 12 of the 18 western European markets. Germany’s DAX lost 0.7 percent, while France’s CAC 40 declined 0.3 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent, led lower by mining shares.
Basic-resources companies led declines as copper and oil retreated.
BP, Europe’s second-biggest oil company, dropped 1.8 percent to £5.15 and Total, the third-largest, slid 2.1 percent to 40.675 euros. BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, sank 2.1 percent to £1,485.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
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