Asia’s benchmark stock gauge posted its first monthly decline since April, as investors weighed the conflict in Ukraine and company earnings. Material and consumer shares retreated.
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (中國鋁業公司) slumped 4.6 percent in Hong Kong after China’s biggest producer of the light metal reported a wider first-half loss amid lower prices. CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd (石藥集團有限公司) tumbled 5.7 percent after a shareholder said it would sell an 11 percent stake in the Hong Kong-based company.
National Australia Bank Ltd, the nation’s largest lender by assets, gained 1.2 percent after saying it plans to sell its US unit to free up capital and focus on its domestic business.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped to 147.91 in Hong Kong on Friday, down 0.6 percent on a weekly and monthly basis. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated below 2,000 on Thursday as violence in Ukraine and disappointing retail earnings outweighed data showing the US economy expanded more than previously estimated last quarter.
“Geopolitical risk reared its ugly head yet again,” said Stan Shamu, a Melbourne-based market strategist at IG Ltd. “News that Ukraine-Russia tension is flaring up again sharply spooked investors. The negative at play for Japanese equities at the moment is the fact safe-haven flows favoring the yen might put on pressure as geopolitical risk escalates.”
Japan’s TOPIX slipped 0.2 percent on Friday, as the nation’s currency headed for its first weekly advance in three weeks. Core consumer prices increased 3.3 percent from a year earlier last month, holding at the same pace as June and meeting analysts’ estimates, a report showed.
In Taipei, the TAIEX declined 0.4 percent this week to 9,436.27. On Friday, Taiwanese shares extended losses from a session earlier following overnight losses on Wall Street and renewed geopolitical concerns related to Ukraine, dealers said.
Selling was seen almost across the board and non-tech stocks faced heavier downward pressure following recent gains, while the bellwether electronics sector consolidated, the dealers said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index erased losses in the final hour of trading, closing little changed. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index surged 1 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI slid 0.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed, and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.3 percent.
In other markets on Friday
Bangkok rose 0.17 percent, or 2.58 points, from Thursday to 1,561.63.
Kuala Lumpur lost 0.51 percent, or 9.57 points, to 1,866.11.
Jakarta ended down 0.92 percent, or 47.62 points, at 5,136.86.
Singapore closed down 0.09 percent, or 3.13 points, to 3,327.09.
Manila closed 0.7 percent lower, giving up 49.81 points to 7,050.89.
Mumbai was closed for a public holiday.
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