Asian stocks closed mostly firmer on Friday, supported by a sharp bounce on Wall Street, but the tone remained cautious and investors did not push their luck after a very volatile week, dealers said.
They said the markets certainly welcomed the positive US showing after solid corporate results and more encouraging economic data, but the basic mixed picture on the US outlook remains, especially as far as inflation is concerned.
That may explain why, after an initial spike in early trade, most of the region was content to sit on the gains and prepare for next week with its heavy agenda of company results.
Dealers said they largely expect stocks to hold around current levels but much depends on Wall Street, especially since the sharp gains it posted on Thursday really did no more than make up some of the ground lost recently.
Taiwanese share prices closed 0.44 percent higher, extending modest gains on the back of Wall Street's rally, but investors remained cautious after recent losses and ahead of local corporate first quarter results, dealers said.
They said there was some support from bargain-hunting but the overall tone was hesitant, leaving the market still well short of key levels at 5,800 and 6,000 points.
The TAIEX closed up 25.10 points at 5,747.09, after moving between 5,741.49 and 5,799.73, on turnover of NT$64.46 billion (US$2.04 billion). Risers led decliners 474 to 348, with 186 stocks unchanged.
Japanese share prices closed 0.56 percent higher following sharp gains on Wall Street after strong US economic data and solid corporate results, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark NIKKEI-225 index rose 61.56 points to 11,045.95, off the day's high of 11,134.99. The index dropped 2.9 percent for the week.
The broader TOPIX index of all first section shares gained 7.57 points or 0.67 percent to 1,130.89. It fell 1.7 percent for the week.
South Korean share prices closed 0.18 percent higher, finding support from the sharp advance on Wall Street but with the very modest gains reflecting cautious sentiment after recent heavy losses, dealers said.
The KOSPI index closed up 1.65 points at 940.79.
Hong Kong share prices closed 0.71 percent higher as Wall Street's gains following a batch of solid earnings reports encouraged investors to look for bargains among local stocks, dealers said.
They said the market also got a boost from some fund inflows amid renewed speculation over a possible revaluation of the Chinese yuan.
The Hang Seng index closed up 96.24 points at 13,693.55, off a low of 13,649.50 and high of 13,727.44. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was up 58.14 points or 1.25 percent at 4,708.80.
Chinese share prices closed 0.28 percent lower with investors selling the automakers after disappointing results and metal companies hit by falling product prices, dealers said.
They said investors were reluctant to build positions after recent sustained losses on concerns the government will introduce more controls in an effort to cool an economy still growing by leaps and bounds despite previous effort to slow things down.
The Shanghai A-share Index lost 3.50 points to 1,226.33, while the Shenzhen A-share Index fell 4.38 points or 1.46 percent to 295.71.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A- and B-shares, lost 3.37 points or 0.29 percent at 1,169.19.
Australian share prices closed 0.5 percent higher as the resource sector found fresh support following a positive lead from Wall Street, dealers said.
The benchmark SP/ASX 200 closed up 20.1 points at 4,034.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 20.9 points at 4,009.6.
Singapore share prices closed flat on concerns over upcoming corporate results, finding no lead in Wall Street's sharp gains, dealers said. The Straits Times Index fell 0.82 points to 2,136.91.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to