Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Friday with investors consolidating after a poor overnight performance by Wall Street and amid fears the Chinese markets boom may have gone too far.
China jitters were helped along by tycoon Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠) and HSBC executive director Peter Wong (王冬勝) who separately warned that trading in highly priced shares in China would impact on Hong Kong if the Chinese market bubble bursts.
Speculation of a rise in Chinese interest rates, as early as this weekend, added to the caution, resulting in Hong Kong falling 0.43 percent and Shanghai shedding 0.45 percent.
Of the other markets hit by issues in China, Tokyo fell 0.57 percent, Australia was off 0.84 percent, Seoul was 0.21 percent lower, Singapore shed 0.37 percent and Kuala Lumpur fell 0.19 percent.
However, rising oil prices buoyed Bangkok with its benchmark rising 0.61 percent while Wellington was up 0.11 percent at a record high on tax cuts and Manila gained 0.92 percent, also a record close, on successful elections.
Jakarta remained closed for a public holiday.
TAIPEI
Share prices closed slightly lower as regional weakness and domestic political concerns eroded early gains led by heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
Dealers said that investors responded favorably to a second offer of 240 million TSMC American Depository Shares (ADS) to sell 1.20 billion common shares held by Royal Philips Electronics NV, priced at US$10.68 apiece.
That price is equivalent to NT$71.28 (US$2.13) per common share, and represents a 5.29 percent premium to Thursday's closing price of NT$67.70 for the company's common shares traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
However, the broad market encountered pressure in late trade amid weakness in neighboring markets and a note of caution ahead of President Chen Shui-bian's (
The weighted index closed down 3.82 points at 8,034.14.
SinoPac Securities Corp (
TSMC closed up NT$0.8 at NT$68.50.
TOKYO
Share prices ended the week on a downbeat note, falling for a second day as investors awaited a slew of banking results for fresh leads.
Dealers said a sluggish overnight performance on Wall Street hurt sentiment and a weak yen was not enough to lift the market's mood amid caution ahead of a weekend meeting of G8 finance ministers.
The NIKKEI-225 index dropped 99.02 points or 0.57 percent to 17,399.58. Volume dipped to 1.97 billion shares from 2.03 billion on Thursday.
"Although the market earlier posted gains as investors were encouraged by the weaker yen, it failed to maintain its momentum amid few other leads for buying," said Hideo Mizutani, chief strategist at Sieg Securities.
"Also, investors kept to the sidelines as they need to see the banking sector's earnings reports before taking positions," he said.
HONG KONG
Share prices closed 0.43 percent lower as Li's comment on the risks of trading highly-priced Chinese stocks sparked fears of an impending correction in Chinese markets and its adverse impact on the local bourse.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 89.77 points at 20,904.84, off a low of 20,769.10 and a high of 20,904.84.
SEOUL
Share prices closed 0.21 percent lower, coming off record highs after a lackluster performance overnight on Wall Street which saw most regional markets flat or easier.
The KOSPI index ended down 3.33 points at 1,612.25.
SHANGHAI
Shares closed mixed in see-saw trading after the latest central bank warning about the dangers of an overheating economy and market checked some of the recent exuberance.
Dealers said stocks were likely to hold around the 4,000-points level on the Shanghai Composite Index for a little while as investors once again weigh the possibility the authorities will take further measures to cool things down.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 18.04 points or 0.45 percent at 4,030.26.
SYDNEY
Share prices closed 0.84 percent lower as investors took profits after a record-breaking run and the resources sector was hit by a fall in metals prices.
Dealers said top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto led the market down after an overnight fall in the copper price while investment bank Macquarie set a fresh record close on hopes for the group's global expansion.
The S&P/ASX 200 shed 53.4 points to 6,312.5.
SINGAPORE
Share prices closed 0.37 percent lower on profit-taking following Wall Street's decline.
The Straits Times Index closed down 13.11 points at 3,512.40.
Dealers also said emerging concerns about slower domestic economic growth also weighed on sentiment.
KUALA LUMPUR
Share prices closed 0.19 percent lower in line with regional markets, triggered by renewed concerns over the US economy.
The composite index was down 2.53 points at 1,356.84 on volume of 1.099 billion shares.
MANILA
Share prices closed 0.92 percent higher, lifting the main index to a record level as investors ignored Wall Street's retreat and focused on the domestic economy.
The composite index added 31.49 points to 3,449.18. A total of 3.1 billion shares were traded.
MUMBAI
Share prices closed flat in choppy, rangebound trade, as investors opted not to build up big positions ahead of the weekend, dealers said.
The benchmark 30-share Sensitive Index rose 3.7 points or 0.03 percent to 14,303.41, after gaining 2.7 percent over the past two days.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be
RSS