Energy firms climbed in Asian trade yesterday after a surge in crude oil prices sent US and European markets flying ahead of the Christmas break.
A jump in US crude oil inventories raised hopes that a sell-off in the commodity, which has seen the Brent contract plumb 11-year lows, might be nearing an end.
Adding to the upbeat tone on trading floors was another round of economic data from Washington reinforcing the view that the world’s biggest economy is in rude health.
Yesterday’s gains were underpinned by a third straight rise in crude oil prices after the US Department of Energy said stockpiles tumbled last week, while imports fell about 13 percent week-on-week.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed 0.6 percent yesterday and Brent gained 0.8 percent, each extending gains of more than 3.5 percent on Wednesday.
BAN LIFTED
WTI has also been supported by US lawmakers’ decision last week to lift a 40-year ban on crude oil exports, leading to hopes of a fall in supplies at home.
The news lit a fire under energy firms in Europe and the US, with big-name firms including Anglo American PLC, Glencore PLC, ExxonMobile Corp and Chevron Corp all surging. That in turn led to sharp gains on the stock markets in Frankfurt, Paris, London and New York.
In Asia, Sydney-listed BHP Billiton Ltd soared 5.3 percent and Rio Tinto PLC more than 4 percent, while Inpex Corp in Tokyo climbed 2 percent and CNOOC (中國海洋石油) in Hong Kong added 3 percent.
Among regional markets, Hong Kong jumped 0.4 percent by the close and Sydney rallied 1.3 percent. The two markets saw just half-day trading ahead of the Christmas break.
There were also gains for Taipei, Singapore and Wellington.
LOSERS
However, Shanghai shed 0.7 percent and Tokyo gave up early advances to close 0.5 percent lower on profit-taking following recent rallies.
“Equity markets look keen to have a good Christmas break and deal with the hangover of ongoing systemic issues in the New Year,” Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based market analyst at IG, told Bloomberg News.
US personal income “was yet another data point that further underlines the improving employment situation,” he said.
However, he warned: “The bounce in commodity stocks is only ephemeral — the ongoing issues for these industries are far from solved.”
Crude oil prices have slumped more than 60 percent from levels above US$100 in the summer last year owing to scant demand, a global economic malaise — particularly in China — a supply glut and surging output.
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
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