European stocks rose this week, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index rallying the most in 10 months, after the EU unveiled a loan package worth almost US$1 trillion to contain the region’s sovereign-debt crisis.
A measure of banks in the STOXX 600 rallied the most since August, after the biggest fall in a year last week. ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial-services company, surged 22 percent, while Banco Santander SA, Spain’s largest lender, gained 7.9 percent. BT Group PLC surged 19 percent after profit beat analysts’ estimates.
The STOXX 600 increased 4.8 percent to 248.46 this week, the biggest advance since July last year, as all 19 industry groups rallied. The gauge has still retreated 8.7 percent from this year’s high on April 15, and slumped 3.4 percent on Friday, amid lingering concern that the region’s debt crisis will hamper economic growth.
The bailout package “has allowed calm to return to financial markets by providing more breathing space for troubled euro zone economies to get their finances in better shape,” ING’s London-based economist James Knightley wrote in a report on Friday. “Individual economies are responding with Spain and Portugal announcing aggressive fiscal tightening measures, but success depends on the resolve of politicians and citizens. Consequently, confidence remains fragile.”
National benchmark indexes rose in all but one of 18 western European markets. Germany’s DAX added 6 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.7 percent. France’s CAC-40 Index gained 5 percent. Greece’s ASE Index added 1.7 percent. Spain’s IBEX 35 gained 3 percent.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
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