Asian stocks fell and equity volatility across the region increased this week, as the Switzerland’s unexpected lifting of its currency cap spurred a flight to haven assets.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, which relies on imports from Switzerland, lost 2.5 percent in Tokyo, while in Seoul, Samsung C&T Corp tumbled 6.3 percent amid concern over slowing overseas orders at South Korean builders.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.6 percent to 137.98 as of 7:12pm on Friday in Hong Kong, paring its weekly advance to 0.1 percent. Financial shares were the largest contributors to losses.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) surprised markets on Thursday by abolishing a minimum exchange rate against the euro designed to shield Switzerland’s economy from the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
“The SNB caught almost everyone by surprise and it’s creating unease and anxiety in markets,” Nader Naeimi of AMP Capital Investors said by telephone.
In Taipei, the TAIEX slipped 0.29 percent, or 26.80 points, to 9,138.29, compared with 9,215.58 on Jan. 9.
On Friday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) rose 4.18 percent to NT$137, while Acer Inc (宏碁) fell 0.49 percent to NT$20.25.
Japan’s TOPIX fell 0.9 percent, capping a third weekly drop, as the yen touched a one-month high. The equity gauge slid as much as 2.4 percent before paring losses as the currency gave up some of Thursday’s 1 percent gain. The Nikkei Stock Average Volatility Index jumped 8.4 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 1 percent as a gauge of price swings rose 3.4 percent, as the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese firms slid 0.9 percent.
Bucking the trend, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.2 percent on Friday.
The gauge advanced 2.8 percent this week amid optimism that the People’s Bank of China will cut reserve-requirement ratios after unexpectedly lowering borrowing costs in November last year to bolster the economy. The index’s 10th week of gains is its longest winning streak since May 2007.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.6 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI retreated 1.4 percent, New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index declined 0.5 percent, India’s BSE S&P Sensex Index added 0.2 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 1.1 percent.
In other markets on Friday:
Wellington fell 0.45 percent, or 25.33 points, from Thursday to end on 5,616.73.
Manila was closed for a public holiday.
Additional reporting by AFP
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last