Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its biggest weekly advance since December 2011, as US shares rallied after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting indicated the central bank will not rush to raise interest rates.
Santos Ltd jumped 8.6 percent in Sydney, leading gains among the region’s energy producers, as oil climbed above US$50 a barrel for the first time since July. Noble Group Ltd surged 16 percent in Singapore as the commodities trader was said to be overhauling its metals unit after vowing to focus on delivering immediate results.
Fast Retailing Co slumped 9.8 percent in Tokyo after the clothier’s earnings and forecasts missed analyst estimates.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.7 percent to 133.39 as of 4:01pm in Hong Kong, poised for a 5.6 percent rally this week.
While Fed officials said the US economy continued to improve, the committee decided to wait for additional data confirming the outlook for growth, the minutes showed. Officials cited growing risks, mainly from China, while saying they were on track to increase rates this year.
Odds of a Fed liftoff this year have fallen below 50 percent, futures data show, after a weaker-than-expected US jobs report last week.
“This looks like a sustainable turnaround,” Sydney-based CMC Markets PLC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said by telephone. “Investors have become less pessimistic. Things are definitely not in a strong economic environment, but there is an expectation of further central bank support.”
Japan’s TOPIX added 2.3 percent. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 1.3 percent. Singapore’s Straits Time Index climbed 1.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 percent. Markets in South Korea and Taiwan were closed for holidays on Friday.
The Shanghai Composite Index increased 1.3 percent after investors speculated the government will take more steps to boost the economy. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in Hong Kong advanced 1.2 percent.
The rebound in Chinese stocks in Hong Kong has room to run, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co sales trader and chartered market technician Ayush Nagaraj said.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.2 percent. The underlying equity measure advanced 0.9 percent on Thursday as commodity shares rallied.
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