Japanese stocks climbed after UBS AG said it will receive a capital injection, boosting speculation the worst may be over from credit-market losses and that the global economy will continue to expand.
Orix Corp, which dropped by as much as 36 percent since the end of July amid speculation it held subprime investments, rose to the highest in five weeks. Mitsubishi Corp led gains by so-called cyclical shares, whose earnings are most sensitive to economic growth.
UBS, Europe's largest bank by assets, said yesterday that it will get US$11.5 billion in new capital after a comparable writedown on subprime investments. Shares also gained in Tokyo on speculation the US Federal Reserve would cut interest rates at its meeting later yesterday.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 120.33, or 0.8 percent, to 16,044.72 at the close of trading, the highest since Nov. 7. The broader Topix index rose 8.51, or 0.6 percent, to 1,567.02, a level not seen since Nov. 6.
"Many investors thought the subprime problem would throw financial markets into chaos, so the boost to UBS's capital base is a positive sign for the market," said Masaru Hamasaki a senior strategist at Toyota Asset Management Co, which oversees US$3.3 billion in Tokyo. "We're not going to be able to resolve the concerns about financial markets in an instant, but I think we can be confident about the domestic banks."
Orix, Japan's largest non-bank financial company, surged &ye n;1,230, or 5.6 percent, to &ye n;23,330, the highest close since Nov. 1. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which had more than US$2 billion in subprime-related investments at the end of September, advanced &ye n;8, or 0.7 percent, to &ye n;1,228.
UBS plans to boost its capital base by US$11.5 billion from Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and an unidentified Middle Eastern investor by selling them bonds that will convert into shares, Chairman Marcel Ospel said yesterday.
The financial conglomerate said it will write down an additional US$10 billion on securities losses in addition to a US$4.66 billion markdown announced earlier this year. The company's shares rose 1.4 percent in Switzerland.
"Asian banks will outperform because people have finally realized that there is a significant difference in terms of subprime exposure between Asian commercial banks and US investment banks," said Masahiko Ejiri who helps oversee US$26 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co in Tokyo.
Mitsubishi Corp, Japan's largest trading house, surged &ye n;190, or 6.1 percent, to &ye n;3,330.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last