European stocks posted the biggest weekly gain since July as reports from the US and China reassured investors that the economic recovery is not faltering and takeover speculation increased.
Rio Tinto Group and Xstrata PLC led an advance in basic-resource shares as manufacturing in China grew at a faster pace last month. Daimler AG rose 8.5 percent as Mercedes-Benz sales advanced last month. Yell Group PLC soared 13 percent as investors speculated that one or more companies are preparing a takeover bid for the company.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 3.7 percent this week after reports showed accelerating growth in US and Chinese manufacturing and the number of Americans hired by companies increased. The measure is still 4.3 percent below this year’s high in April.
“We’ve had very encouraging economic data this week,” said Matthias Jasper, head of equities at WGZ Bank AG in Dusseldorf, Germany. “People have been too negative and we’re going to see higher prices on equity markets in the coming weeks.”
National benchmark indexes climbed in all but one of the 18 western European markets.
France’s CAC 40 Index advanced 4.7 percent, while Germany’s DAX Index rose 3.1 percent and the UK’s FTSE 100 Index soared 5.3 percent.
All industry groups in the STOXX 600 rose this week.
The VSTOXX Index, which measures the cost of protecting against declines in the Euro STOXX 50 Index, dropped 13 percent this week, the biggest weekly decline since July.
Yell, the publisher of the UK’s Yellow Pages directories, jumped 13 percent, the stock’s biggest weekly gain since April.
“M&A activity continues to fill the air,” David Buik, a London-based market strategist at BGC Partners, wrote in an e-mail.
“Interested parties are suggesting that Yell might be for sale at around 30 pence” a share, he said.
Yell spokesman Jon Salmon said via the telephone that the company doesn’t comment on market speculation.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry