Asian markets mainly fell on Friday, weighed down by jitters over the impact of China’s yuan devaluation and a fall in oil dragged down energy stocks, while Shanghai rose on hopes for more market intervention.
The US dollar dipped after advancing on solid US retail figures, which fueled expectations the US Federal Reserve will raise rates soon, while the euro fell on weak EU growth data.
The TAIEX closed flat, losing 6.1 points to 8,305.64. Smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) rose 2.76 percent to NT$52.1, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) gained 1.49 percent to NT$88.7.
Tokyo ended down 0.37 percent, or 76.1 points, at 20,519.45 and Sydney lost 0.58 percent, or 31.37 points, to 5,356.50. Seoul’s financial markets were closed for a public holiday. Hong Kong fell 0.13 percent, or 27.77 points, to end the day at 23,991.03.
Asian shares fluctuated throughout the day as investors weighed the impact of a surprise devaluation of the yuan by China this week that has roiled global financial markets.
“The yuan devaluation and prospects of an impending rate increase by the Fed have created a very volatile market environment,” Manila-based BDO Unibank chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas told Bloomberg News. “That’s made many investors risk adverse.”
However, Shanghai bucked the trend with a rise of 0.27 percent, capping its biggest weekly increase in two months, as investors hoped the surprise devaluation of the yuan heralded more economic support from Beijing.
Adding to those hopes, China’s market regulator pledged after the close to stabilize the volatile stock market for a “number of years” and vowed a longer-term role for state-backed company tasked with buying shares.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.27 percent, or 10.78 points to 3,965.34, a 5.91 percent rise over the week and its biggest weekly gain in two months.
Energy shares took a hit on Friday, leading the slump in Asia as oil prices slid close to their low point for the year on signs a global glut of supplies will last into next year.
“It’s concerning that we can’t really see the bottom of oil prices,” Tokyo-based Mizuho Trust & Banking Co senior strategist Hitoshi Asaoka told Bloomberg News.
Elsewhere, Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) fell 5.84 percent to HK$7.25 after Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) and Macquarie Research Equities downgraded their ratings.
In other markets on Friday:
Wellington fell 0.72 percent, or 41.25 points, to 5,696.45.
Mumbai rose 1.88 percent, or 517.78 points, to 28,067.31 points.
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
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
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