Asian stocks rose, driving the region’s benchmark index up for a second straight week and paring a quarterly decline, amid optimism Greece will avoid default and signs a US economic recovery is strengthening, boosting prospects for Asian exports and bank earnings.
“The most negative fears about global growth have been soothed,” said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which oversees about US$150 billion. “Events in the US and Greece were weighing on global growth expectations and risk appetite, but the US data was reasonable and Greece has passed a major hurdle.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2.5 percent to 135.53 in the past five days, closing at the highest level in a month, having last week snapped its longest series of weekly losses since 2004.
The gauge sank 0.6 percent in the three months to June 30, its second straight quarterly decline amid concern earnings in the Asia-Pacific region would suffer should Greece default on its sovereign debt and on signs US growth may be weakening at the same time as China’s anti-inflation measures slow its economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 2 percent this week, and South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 1.7 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which was closed for a public holiday on Friday, climbed 1 percent. Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 1.01 percent, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 1.8 percent.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5 percent. An index of Chinese manufacturing dropped to the lowest level since February 2009 last month, indicating the government’s campaign to tame inflation had damped growth in the world’s second-biggest economy.
“There will still be a lot of twists and turns, but Greece has been able to avoid a worst-case scenario,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about US$600 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “That makes it easier for investors to take on risk.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has lost 1.6 percent this year, compared with a gain of 6.5 percent by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a drop of 0.3 percent by the STOXX Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 13.9 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.6 times for the S&P 500 and 11.2 times for the Stoxx 600.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila jumped 1.41 percent, or 60.42 points, from Thursday to 4,351.63.
Wellington rose 0.77 percent, or 26.65 points, from Thursday to 3,475.
Mumbai fell 0.44 percent, or 83.07 points, from Thursday to 18,762.8.
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last