Asian stocks rose to a seven-month high this week, as the region’s equities gauge posted a fourth week of gains after the European Central Bank (ECB) unveiled a range of stimulus measures.
Sumco Corp, which makes silicon wafers, surged 11 percent to lead gains on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia — the country’s largest lender by assets —climbed as financial shares posted their second-biggest advance among the 10 industry groups on the regional index. In Tokyo, Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co gained 2.8 percent as Barclays PLC recommended buying the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s shares.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3 percent to 143.4 as of 6:39pm in Hong Kong, its highest close since October last year. The gauge gained 1.2 percent this week to record its longest weekly winning streak since March.
It rallied 9.9 percent through Thursday from this year’s low in February after Chinese authorities eased bank collateral rules and US data signaled that the recovery of the world’s No. 1 economy is intact.
The Asia-Pacific index traded at 13.2 times estimated earnings, compared with 16.4 times for the S&P 500 and 15.5 on the Europe STOXX 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The ECB’s moves are “further growth supportive and a lower interest-rate backdrop is positive for equities,” Chris Green, director of economics and strategy at First NZ Capital Ltd, said by telephone.
“There’s still the impression that the labor market in the US is a relatively positive story. We’re still constructive on equities,” he added.
In Taipei, the TAIEX edged down 6.26 points to 9,134.46, compared with 9,075.91 on May 30.
In Friday trading, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) rose 0.32 percent to NT$93.2 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) fell 0.41 percent to NT$122.5.
Japan’s TOPIX added 0.2 percent, rising 2.8 percent this week, amid optimism that the country’s largest pension fund will funnel more money into stocks, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index increased 0.4 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent, with Commonwealth Bank climbing 1 percent to A$81.77.
Elsewhere in the region, India’s BSE S&P SENSEX advanced 1.5 percent, Thailand’s SET Index added 0.3 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.7 percent, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese shares listed in Hong Kong slid 0.2 percent.
Also, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.6 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5 percent and in South Korea, the KOSPI fell 0.7 percent on Thursday before markets closed for a holiday on Friday.
In other markets on Friday:
Wellington added 0.44 percent, or 22.95 points, from Thursday to close at 5,182.44.
Manila eased 0.14 percent, or 9.82 points, to 6,762.62.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
RSS