Asian stocks rose this week, with the benchmark index gaining for the first time in a month, on optimism policymakers in the US and China would bolster growth in the world’s two biggest economies. Japanese shares jumped as the yen weakened.
Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Co., a Chinese medical products maker, soared 34 percent in Hong Kong this week after reporting higher sales, leading gains on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.
Nissan Motor Co, which gets about 80 percent of revenue outside Japan, rose 4.6 percent as the yen declined to a two-month low.
James Hardie Industries, a building-materials supplier that makes more than half of its sales in the US, jumped 13 percent in Sydney after reporting better-than-expected operating profit.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.9 percent to 141.57 this week, the biggest weekly advance since the five days ended Sept. 20. China may release details of its economic policy plans as early as next week, according to Morgan Stanley.
US Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen, the nominee for Fed chairman, signaled during her senate confirmation hearing on Thursday that she would not consider ending the Fed’s bond-buying scheme as long as growth remained tepid and unemployment elevated.
“The statement made by Yellen is definitely favorable for equity markets,” said Khiem Do, Hong Kong-based head of Asian multi-asset strategy at Baring Asset Management. “Fourth quarter is a very favorable period for equity markets around the world. It looks like global investors are back in Japan again.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 7.7 percent this week, climbing above 15,000 for the first time since May and posting the steepest weekly rally in almost four years. China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 1.4 percent.
Asia’s regional equities gauge slumped on Wednesday amid disappointment in the lack of details released at the conclusion of China’s four-day leadership meeting.
Shares then reversed course, with gains accelerating on Friday as the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper reported that a 20,000-word document approved at the plenum lays out 15 areas of reform and 60 “concrete tasks.”
Policy changes may be announced over the next seven to 10 days, Jonathan Garner, the Hong Kong-based chief Asia and emerging-market strategist at Morgan Stanley, said on Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said corruption remains a problem and urged more courage and stronger measures to push forward reforms, according to a transcript of his speech at the plenum published on Friday by Xinhua News Agency.
Taiwanese shares bucked the regional trend, sliding 0.6 percent this week to 8,177.12.
Yellen’s testimony lifted the TAIEX on Friday, led by bargain-hunting in old economy stocks, particularly in cement, petrochemicals and textiles, but electronics stocks consolidated, capping the gains on the broader market, dealers said.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.8 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.3 percent this week, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a gauge of mainland stocks also known as the H-share index, jumped 3 percent.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila rose 0.29 percent, or 18.52 points, from Thursday to 6,346.40.
Wellington fell 0.27 percent, or 13.1 points, from Thursday to 4,914.08.
Mumbai was closed for a public holiday.
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],”