Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index recording its biggest weekly gain in almost five months, on optimism that central banks from China to the US would take new steps to fuel growth tempered concerns Europe’s debt crisis would worsen.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2.4 percent to 114.16 this week, the most in almost five months, before elections today that may determine Greece’s future in the euro.
The gauge has dropped more than 11 percent from its peak this year on Feb. 29 amid concern growth is slowing in China and the US and as European policy makers failed to stem concern about the debt crisis.
“There’s quite a high chance that the US may do more easing,” said Terrace Chum, a Hong-Kong based fund manager at Manulife Asset Management. “People are expecting an interest-rate cut in China. There is expectation that Greece may not part from the European Union, but all these could turn around very quickly.”
Gains in stocks were limited on concern about Europe’s debt crisis. Spanish bond yields surged the most in four months as the government sought a bailout of 100 billion euros (US$125 billion) for its banks.
US LINK
Companies linked to the US advanced after data on Thursday showed more US nationals applied for jobless benefits and consumer prices dropped by the most in three years, giving the US Federal Reserve room to spur growth. A policy meeting is scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Li & Fung (利豐) rallied 5.9 percent to HK$15.20 this week. Honda Motor Co, a Japanese carmaker that derives more than 40 percent of its sales in North America, gained 1.7 percent to ¥2,533 in Tokyo.
The Shanghai Composite Index increased 1.1 percent this week, after data showed China’s consumer prices increased the least in two years lat month and industrial output and retail sales trailed estimates, adding pressure for more stimulus after the first interest-rate cut in three years.
Komatsu climbed 2.3 percent to ¥1,885 this week. Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Ltd (遠洋地產), a real-estate developer in China, surged 16 percent to HK$3.75.
Taiwan’s TAIEX gained 2.2 percent this week, its biggest increase in six weeks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 1.3 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI rose 1.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.2 percent.
ENERGY
Energy companies gained the most among the regional equity gauge’s 10 industry groups as crude oil for delivery rose on OPEC’s call for members to cut production in excess of quotas.
PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣), China’s largest oil company, advanced 4 percent to HK$10.52 this week in Hong Kong. SK Innovation Co, South Korea’s largest refiner, soared 11 percent to 149,000 won in Seoul.
In other markets:
Manila closed 1.8 percent, or 90.22 points, lower at 4,930.63.
Wellington rose 0.91 percent, or 30.99 points, to 3,447.07.
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