Asian stocks rose on Friday, following gains in global markets, as Chinese equities rebounded for a second day and Greece submitted a bailout plan similar to that proposed by its creditors.
China Huishan Dairy Holdings Co (輝山乳業) surged 16 percent in Hong Kong to lead gains on the regional benchmark index after the milk producer’s parent bought shares in the company. BYD Co (比亞迪) jumped 11 percent, with the Warren Buffett-backed electric-car maker paring its fourth straight weekly drop. Fast Retailing Co tumbled 6 percent in Tokyo after the apparel retailer said unseasonably cool weather dampened demand for summer clothes.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5 percent to 141.38 on Friday in Hong Kong, but still dropped 3.7 percent from the previous week.
Greece’s package includes pension savings and tax increases as part of its bid to remain in the euro. EU leaders are to discuss the proposal today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index jumped 2.2 percent on Thursday, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent, as a rebound in Chinese equities also boosted sentiment.
“Signs that the proposal Greece has put together has concessions on longstanding issues and is similar to tabled proposals is reducing risk aversion,” Sam Tuck, a senior currency strategist in Auckland at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd, said by instant message.
“The fact that China managed to close up across the board has certainly reduced market fear, but it’s still very much in the forefront of people’s minds,” Tuck said.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 4.5 percent, capping the benchmark index’s biggest two-day gain since 2008, as unprecedented government intervention helped curb an equity rout that erased US$3.9 trillion in less than a month.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in Hong Kong climbed 3.6 percent.
China’s securities regulator this week banned major shareholders, corporate executives and directors from selling stakes in listed companies for six months, its latest effort to stem the equities slump.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 2.1 percent. Japan’s TOPIX added 0.2 percent as the yen weakened.
South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.2 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.4 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.2 percent.
Taiwan’s stock and bond markets were shut on Friday as Typhoon Chan-Hom approached the nation. Schools and government offices were closed in five cities, including Taipei and Taoyuan.
The TAIEX closed lower on Thursday, extending losses from a day earlier, but bargain hunting emerged during the session, encouraged by a technical rebound in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets. The weighted index closed 0.7 percent lower from Thursday at 8,914.13 from Thursday. It fell 4.7 percent from the previous week’s 9.358.23.
Elsewhere in Asia, Manila closed up 0.2 percent, Jakarta rose 0.4 percent, Kuala Lumpur gained 0.8 percent, Bangkok climbed 0.8 percent and Mumbai edged up 0.3 percent.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by