Asian stocks dropped for the first week in three, with Japan’s TOPIX halting its longest winning streak in 40 years, after earnings reports from Nissan Motor Co and Gree Inc disappointed investors.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent to 132.84, closing the week within 1 percent of its highest since August 2011. Markets in Taiwan, Vietnam and China were shut for the holidays and the trading week was shortened in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has advanced about 10 percent since November last year, led by Japanese shares, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to beat deflation and pushed the central bank to ease monetary policy.
Asia’s benchmark trades at 14.7 times average estimated earnings compared with 13.7 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12.3 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The TAIEX closed Feb. 6 up 0.25 percent at 7,906.65 as markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday. The Taipei bourse resumes normal operations tomorrow.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.3 percent this week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.4 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI added 1.6 percent. The benchmark retreated on Feb. 12 after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test and warned of further action.
The TOPIX, Japan’s broadest share gauge, declined 1.6 percent, halting a 13-week run of gains that was the longest such streak since 1973. Shares slid as the yen strengthened, the Bank of Japan refrained from adding stimulus, and a report showed the economy shrank for a third quarter.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.2 percent after dropping the previous week.
Nissan dropped 5.6 percent to ¥932 this week in Tokyo. Japan’s second-biggest carmaker reported third-quarter profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates after sales tumbled in China and new models trailed competitors in the US.
Gree slumped 22 percent to ¥1,086 after the social network operator cut its profit goal on new game delays and slower-than-expected overseas sales.
In other markets on Friday:
‧ Manila gained 0.13 percent, or 8.23 points, from Thursday to 6,521.64.
‧ Wellington ended 1.00 percent lower, sliding 42.46 points from Thursday to 4,196.74.
‧ Mumbai fell 0.15 percent, or 29.03 points, from Thursday to 19,468.15.
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained