Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark gauge on course for a fourth weekly gain, as energy and materials companies climbed.
Chinese equities dropped as regulators increased the pace of initial public offerings.
BHP Billiton Ltd advanced 3.2 percent in Sydney as iron-ore prices surged after the miner curbed growth plans. Oil explorer Inpex Corp added 1.3 percent in Tokyo as crude headed for a six-week advance. TDK Corp, an electronics maker that gets most its sales overseas, dropped 2.2 percent as the yen rose on disappointing US data. Citic Securities Co lost 3.9 percent in Shanghai amid concern new equity sales will divert funds from existing stocks.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent to 155.87 as of 4:06pm in Hong Kong to extend a seven-year high. The gauge is poised for a 1.4 percent increase this week and the longest run of weekly advances since February.
“There are plenty of positives,” said Andrew Clarke, director of trading at Hong Kong brokerage Mirabaud Asia Ltd. “The investors who have missed the rally in some of the markets are still coming in, but we have also come to a point in some markets where it’s time to take a bit of profit.”
The TAIEX added 1.2 percent, closing at its highest since April 2000. The nation introduced limits on foreign investment in its corporate debt market this week, fueling speculation of a shift to equities from bonds.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 1.5 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI index retreated 0.6 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was little changed.
The Shanghai Composite slid 0.5 percent, falling from its highest since March 2008. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would review and approve two batches of IPO applications each month, up from one previously. The 10 companies making trading debuts today all jumped by the 44 percent daily limit.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong added 0.1 percent, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.8 percent.
The rally in Chinese stocks “has weak legs because it’s too fast, too soon,” Roshan Padamadan, a money manager at Luminance Global Fund in Singapore, told Bloomberg TV.
Japan’s TOPIX lost 0.4 percent after the yen strengthened 0.2 percent to 119.31 against the dollar as US jobs and housing data cast doubt on the economic recovery. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.8 percent.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila rose 0.70 percent, or 55.20 points, to 7,947.25. Top-traded Ayala land was down 0.25 percent to 39.60 pesos, while SM Prime Holdings rose 1.22 percent to 19.84 pesos and Metrobank was up 0.21 percent at 97.20 pesos.
Wellington rose 0.13 percent, or 7.45 points, to 5,765.36. Warehouse Group was up 0.71 percent at NZ$2.82 and Trade Me gained 2.42 percent to NZ$3.81.
Mumbai fell 1.07 percent, or 297.08 points, to 27,437.94 points. IT major Infosys slid 5.95 percent to 1,996.25 rupees, while utility major Oil & Natural Gas Corporation rose 2.6 percent to 315.80 rupees.
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