Asian stocks fell for a fifth week, completing their longest losing streak in more than three years, on concern the US and Japan are sinking into recessions.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc led a decline among financial stocks after reporting losses from subprime-related investments. Sony Corp slumped after cutting its target for operating profit. Datang International Power Generation Co (
"The two scenarios confronting investors are either that Japan and the US only briefly slip into recession or that it will be long-lasting," said Masayuki Kubota, who helps oversee about US$1.7 billion at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5 percent this week. The five-week, 7.1 percent retreat is the longest losing streak since August 2004. A half-percentage-point interest-rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday to bolster growth wasn't enough to help the benchmark recover earlier losses.
China's CSI 300 Index plunged 10 percent, Asia's sharpest drop and its biggest weekly decline on record. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 1 percent. Benchmarks fell elsewhere in the region, except Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan.
A measure of financial stocks on MSCI's Asian index dropped 2.3 percent.
TAIPEI
Taiwanese share prices on Friday closed 2.03 percent higher from Thursday, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 152.86 points at 7,673.99 on turnover of NT$123.10 billion (US$3.85 billion).
Alex Huang (
TOKYO
Japanese share prices closed down 0.7 percent on Friday amid caution over key US jobs data and disappointing earnings news from companies including Sony Corp, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 95.31 points to 13,497.16. The broader TOPIX index of all first-section shares finished down 9.45 points, also a loss of 0.70 percent, at 1,336.86.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong share prices closed up 2.9 percent, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 667.84 points at 24,123.58.
Chinese financial markets will be closed from Wednesday until next Tuesday and the Hong Kong bourse will be shut Thursday and Friday next week for the Lunar New Year.
SYDNEY
Australian share prices closed up 3.4 percent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 192.6 points to end at 5,842.9, while the broader All Ordinaries added 185.3 points to 5,882.3.
The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 10.9 percent and the All Ordinaries lost 11.3 percent last month.
SHANGHAI
Chinese share prices closed 1.43 percent lower, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index, which covers both A and B shares, closed down 62.63 points to 4,320.77.
The Shanghai A-share index fell 1.42 percent to 4,534.57.
The Shenzhen A-share index closed 2.84 percent lower at 1,339.46.
The Shanghai B-share index fell 2.22 percent to 295.81. The Shenzhen B-share index added 0.26 percent to 640.45.
SEOUL
South Korean share prices closed 0.6 percent higher, dealers said.
The KOSPI index gained 9.85 points to 1,634.53.
SINGAPORE
Singapore share prices closed 0.87 percent higher, dealers said.
The blue chip Straits Times index closed 26.05 points higher at 3,007.80.
BANGKOK
Thai share prices closed 3.40 percent higher, dealers said.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index gained 26.63 points to 810.86 and the blue-chip SET-50 added 21.42 points to 588.59.
MUMBAI
Indian share prices closed up 3.31 percent, dealers said.
The benchmark 30-share SENSEX index rose 584.71 points to 18,233.42.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy