Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Friday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan reassured Congress that the US economy was in reasonable shape.
Overall, the Fed chairman said, "the US economy seems to be on a reasonably firm footing, and underlying inflation remains contained."
His comments spurred Wall Street to a higher finish and markets in the Asia Pacific followed suit with Taipei, Tokyo, Singapore and South Korea leading the push into positive territory.
PHOTO: AP
A brighter second-quarter forecast by chipmakers Intel in the US and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co added some extra gloss to those markets.
The Philippines stood out as the best performer, rising 2.05 percent, but dealers said this was largely due to a technical bounce after three days of sharp falls amid persistent rumors of a coup to oust President Gloria Arroyo.
However, China bucked the trend and closed lower after profit takers lived up to expectations and moved in to cash up on recent, very sharp, gains.
Share prices closed 0.76 percent higher in Taiwan, supported by a firmer Wall Street.
Dealers said there was some profit-taking in early trade but bellwether electronics and other stocks sustained their gains on expectations of continued purchases by foreign investors after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
"Foreign investors remain avid buyers in the local bourse," said Oliver Fang of Yuanta Core Pacific Securities (
"Few now expect an immediate pullback as even domestic institutions and small investors find it increasingly hard to resist to jump on to the bandwagon," he said.
But it remains to be seen if some of the foreign investors who have bought aggressively since last month are doing so for arbitrage, he said.
"We can get some answers when June futures contracts on the weighted index are settled next week and toward the end of the month," Fang said.
The TAIEX closed up 46.43 points at 6,192.35 on turnover of NT$88.62 billion (US$2.83 billion).
TSMC was up NT$0.10 at NT$58.10 after raising its guidance for the second quarter after market close Thursday. The company raised its estimates for shipments, utilization rate and gross margin for the three months to June.
Tokyo share prices closed 1.28 percent higher, supported by a firmer Wall Street.
Dealers said upgrades by US chip giant Intel and TSMC also bolstered sentiment.
"Investors took heart from the remarks overnight by Greenspan ... and from Intel's upward revision of its June quarter earning forecast," said Koichi Ogawa, chief fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
The NIKKEI-225 index gained 143.35 points to 11,304.23 on volume of 2.03 billion shares, up from 1.20 billion on Thursday due to Friday's special quotation for settling monthly options and futures contracts.
Share prices closed 0.33 percent higher in Seoul to break 990 points for the first time in two months, led by Samsung Electronics after Intel and TSMC of Taiwan upgraded their second quarter guidance.
Dealers said investors were relieved by US Federal Reserve
The KOSPI index closed up 3.21 points at 990.79.
Samsung Electronics' 1.9 trillion won share buy-back plan provided support for the stock but it will be interesting to see whether foreign investors, who have been on the sell-side on the stock, take advantage of the offer.
The combined foreign investor holding in Samsung Electronics has fallen to around 54 percent from 60 percent last year. Samsung Electronics was up 11,500 won to 491,500 won.
LG Electronics shed 900 won to 70,600, LG Philips LCD was down 1,000 won to 51,400 and Samsung SDI declined 600 won to 98,300.
Hong Kong share prices closed 0.26 percent higher. The Hang Seng Index closed up 36.45 points at 13,934.76.
Share prices closed 2.02 percent lower in Shanghai on profit-taking in a broad correction after recent sharp gains, with metal firms and petrochemical producers leading the decline. The Shanghai A-share Index shed 23.97 points to 1,163.43, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 6.62 points at 280.58.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B-shares, closed down 22.77 points at 1,108.29.
Share prices closed marginally higher in Sydney as energy stocks lifted an otherwise subdued market.
The benchmark SP/ASX 200 index closed up 7.7 points or 0.18 percent at 4,221.7. The broader All Ordinaries closed up 11.1 points at 4,180.0.
In Jakarta, share prices closed 0.25 percent higher in thin trade, with gains in select blue chips offsetting the broader market's fall. The composite index closed up 2.743 points at 1,096.932.
Singapore share prices closed 0.96 percent higher on interest in blue chips and semiconductor stocks after US chip giant Intel upgraded its quarterly guidance. The Straits Times Index rose 21.87 points to 2,220.43.
Malaysian shares prices closed 1.21 percent higher, supported by positive comments from investment bank JP Morgan that the benchmark index could hit 980 points by the year's end. The composite index closed up 10.62 points at 890.02.
Thai share prices closed 0.41 percent higher on helped by last minute speculation in communication stocks. The composite index added 2.78 points to close at 679.98 points.
In Manila, share prices closed 2.05 percent higher on a technical bounce after three days of sharp falls but concerns over rumors of a coup attempt against President Gloria Arroyo remain. The composite index rose 38.94 points to 1,937.18.
In Wellington, share prices closed 0.39 percent lower after the three leading stocks all lost ground. The NZSX-50 gross index fell 12.00 points to 3,079.22.
Indian share prices fell 0.74 percent despite a firm regional trend as investors booked profits ahead of the weekend in recent gainers such as in the software and banking sectors, dealers said. The exchange's 30-share SENSEX shed 50.54 points to 6,781.99.
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