European stocks posted the biggest weekly decline in seven weeks as economic reports from the US and Japan heightened concern that the global economic recovery may be stalling.
Vestas Wind Systems A/S led energy companies lower, plunging 23 percent, after the wind-turbine maker cut its revenue forecast. Holcim Ltd, the world’s second-biggest cement maker, lost 5.1 percent as earnings missed estimates. BHP Billiton Ltd sank 6.3 percent after making a hostile US$40 billion bid for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc.
The benchmark STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 1.3 percent to 252.15 this past week, the biggest drop since July 2, as reports showed US jobless-benefit claims climbed to the highest level in nine months and Japan’s economy grew at the slowest pace in three quarters.
“The data is obvious: It is a slowdown,” said Herbert Perus, Vienna-based head of equities at Raiffeisen Capital Management. “The recovery will not go on in a straight line. Big investors are positioned for a double-dip scenario.”
The STOXX 600 has retreated 7.4 percent from this year’s high in April amid concern that European governments will struggle to reduce their budget deficits and speculation that the US economy may tip back into recession. The gauge is almost unchanged for the year.
National benchmark indices fell in 16 out of 18 western European markets this week. France’s CAC 40 dropped 2.4 percent and Germany’s DAX slid 1.7 percent. The UK’s FTSE 100 retreated 1.5 percent.
A measure of energy stocks posted the biggest decline among 19 industry groups in the STOXX 600 as crude oil fell to a six-week low in New York.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’