Asian stocks fell, with a regional index posting its worst week in five months, amid concern Greece could be forced out of the euro and that austerity plans needed to contain the eurozone debt crisis will be derailed.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行), the world’s largest lender by market value, sank 4.5 percent in Hong Kong this week as the nation’s export growth slowed. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (和記黃埔有限公司), which operates ports in Spain and Germany, declined 5.6 percent in Hong Kong. Sony Corp fell 11 percent to the lowest in more than 31 years after the maker of Bravia televisions and PlayStation game consoles forecast profit that lagged analyst estimates by half.
“Europe remains the biggest issue facing markets,” said Andrew Pease, Sydney-based chief investment strategist for the Asia--Pacific region at Russell Investment Group.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 4.4 percent to 118.61 this week. That’s the steepest weekly slide since the last week of November last year as France’s political changes and instability in Greece threaten to derail austerity plans and worsen Europe’s debt crisis. Stocks extended losses -yesterday as JPMorgan Chase & Co said it had a US$2 billion trading loss.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.3 percent. A report released on Wednesday showed the nation’s exports rose less than economists’ estimates last month, putting pressure on policymakers to pledge stimulus measures to boost growth. Industrial output in the world’s second-largest economy rose 9.3 percent from a year earlier last month, a government report showed yesterday.
Chinese lenders and shipping companies dropped. ICBC, as China’s biggest bank is known, slipped 4.5 percent to HK$4.89. China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行), the second-largest, slipped 5.9 percent to HK$5.59. China COSCO Holdings Co (中國遠洋控股股份有限公司), the nation’s No. 1 shipping line, tumbled 14 percent to HK$3.86.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 2.5 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI index dropped 0.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 4.6 percent, a sixth consecutive weekly loss.
In Taiwan the benchmark TAIEX fell 1.1 percent to 7,401.08, headed for the lowest close since Jan. 18. The index sank 3.9 percent this week, poised for the biggest loss since the period to Nov. 26.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila closed 0.65 percent, or 33.96 points, lower from Thursday at 5,158.14.
Wellington fell 0.59 percent, or 20.99 points, from Thursday to 3,548.06.
Mumbai was down 127.07 points, or 0.77 percent from Thursday to 16,292.98 — its fourth straight day of losses and a near four-month-low.
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
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”