Asian stocks rose for a third day on Friday after data on US retail sales bolstered confidence in the strength of the world’s biggest economy. Chinese shares rallied on speculation policymakers would boost stimulus.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 148.24 on Friday in Hong Kong and edged up 0.2 percent from the previous week’s 147.95. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.2 percent on Thursday as sales at US retailers picked up last month and applications for unemployment benefits remained below 300,000 for a 14th straight week. The IMF said its team negotiating with Greece left Brussels after failing to make progress on a debt deal.
“The US numbers were quite strong,” Tony Farnham, an analyst at Patersons Securities Ltd in Sydney, said by phone. “Some investors are starting to realize that US growth is OK and that should help justify the Fed normalizing rates later this year. The Greek problem needs to be fixed. It could cause a bit of dislocation in markets if Greece defaults.”
European Council President Donald Tusk told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to stop maneuvering and decide whether to accept the conditions on financial aid. Tusk abandoned his neutral position as a broker of EU compromises to signal Greece’s creditors are preparing to hand Tsipras an ultimatum.
TAIPEI FLAT
In Taipei, the TAIEX closed little changed at 9,301.93 on Friday amid lingering concerns over the debt problems in Greece, dealers said. The index slid 0.4 percent from the previous week’s 9,340.13.
While the broader market remained in the doldrums, the financial sector moved higher in the wake of a move by the Financial Supervisory Commission to remove the ceiling on the value of credit trading — margin trading and securities borrowing — as part of its efforts to boost activity in the local equity market, the dealers said.
Gainers included Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), which rose 1.46 percent to NT$27.80, and E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), which climbed 1.95 percent to NT$20.95.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.9 percent on Friday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.8 percent, the most since May 26. Data this week showed parts of the economy stabilizing as factory output and credit growth accelerated last month, while exports and producer prices slid.
“May’s macro data was generally better than April, but wasn’t strong enough to confirm a firmer recovery,” said Clement Cheng, a Hong Kong-based trader at RBC Investment Management. “That’s how the market is expecting further monetary loosening to come.”
ADVANCERS
Japan’s TOPIX added 0.2 percent after the yen slid 0.6 percent against the US dollar on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.4 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.2 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI, New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index each lost 0.2 percent.
Elsewhere in Asia, Mumbai climbed 0.21 percent; Jakarta edged up 0.14 percent; Kuala Lumpur was flat; and Bangkok slipped 0.43 percent. Manila was closed for a public holiday.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure