Asian stocks rose, joining a global equities rally, after the European Central Bank (ECB) signaled it might boost stimulus this year.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.8 percent to 136.27 at 4:08pm in Hong Kong. The MSCI All-Country World Index of developed and emerging-market shares surged to a two-month high on Thursday after ECB President Mario Draghi said policymakers would re-examine the degree of stimulus in December, adding that the quantitative-easing program would continue until beyond September next year if needed.
“Investors interpreted this as meaning a greatly increased chance of more policy support,” said Matthew Sherwood, head of investment strategy at Perpetual Ltd in Sydney, which manages about US$21 billion. “The good thing for central banks is that they have most investors so hooked on the stimulus drug that all they have to do is boost supply and the patient will be happy again.”
All 10 industry groups on the Asia Pacific index climbed, led by consumer staples and financial firms. The measure advanced 1.3 percent this week, a fourth weekly advance, bringing its rally to 10 percent this month. The index is down 1.2 percent this year.
Japan’s TOPIX climbed 2 percent as Nomura Holdings Co, the nation’s biggest brokerage, surged 3.7 percent. Cosmetics company Kose Corp added 4.3 percent in Tokyo after reporting preliminary profit that beat its forecast.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.7 percent. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) joined its three main competitors in raising its benchmark variable mortgage rate as Australian lenders seek to cover the cost of holding more capital.
ANZ shares rose 1.1 percent.
Drillsearch Energy Ltd surged 26 percent in Sydney after Beach Energy Ltd agreed to pay A$384 million (US$277 million) in stock to acquire Drillsearch to increase its exposure to energy assets in Australia’s Cooper Basin.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.3 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 1.3 percent to the highest close since Aug. 18. The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.3 percent, capping a third weekly increase amid speculation the government would take more measures to bolster the economy before a top-level Chinese Communist Party meeting starts next week.
Plenum topics would include accelerating state-sector reforms and redoubling efforts to reduce pollution, according to Bloomberg economists Fielding Chen and Tom Orlik.
Further measures to push the “One Belt, One Road” strategy forward, personnel changes and comments on anti-corruption are among the key things to watch out for at the meeting, DBS Bank Hong Kong Ltd economist Nathan Chow said.
The TAIEX, South Korea’s KOSPI and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index all added 0.8 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times advanced 1.1 percent and India’s S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.8 percent.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5 percent since the close of cash-market trading on Thursday. The underlying gauge advanced 1.7 percent on Thursday.
After the market closed, Google parent Alphabet Inc reported better-than-projected earnings amid stronger ad sales, while keeping expenses under control. It soared in extended trading, as did Amazon.com Inc after the Internet commerce company’s quarterly sales topped analysts’ estimates.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”