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.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS