Asian markets on Friday edged up as investors turned their attention to China-US trade talks, while keeping an eye on the Persian Gulf region after last week’s airstrikes on Saudi Arabian oil facilities fanned geopolitical tensions.
With a delegation from China in the US to prepare for higher-level negotiations next month, there are hopes that the economic powerhouses can find a solution to their trade dispute that has dragged on the global economy for a year.
Stock markets have enjoyed a broadly positive month thanks to hopes for the talks, with both sides appearing to offer olive branches and sounding less confrontational than they did in July and last month.
A shift by central banks to easier monetary policies — or a desire to do so — is providing some much-needed support to equities, although there was some disappointment in the US Federal Reserve’s lack of forward guidance this week for further interest rate cuts.
Still, there is an expectation that more measures were likely on the way, with Edward Jones investment specialist Kate Warne telling Bloomberg TV: “There’s a lot more monetary stimulus coming into the system.”
In Taipei, the TAIEX on Friday edged up 34.99 points, or 0.32 percent, to 10,929.69, rising 0.9 percent from a close of 10,827.55 on Sept. 12, with turnover totaling NT$144.52 billion (US$4.67 billion).
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 on Friday closed up 34.64 points, or 0.2 percent, at 22,079.09, a gain of 0.4 percent from 21,988.29 a week earlier.
The Shanghai Composite on Friday rose 7.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,006.45, dropping 0.8 percent from a close of 3,031.24 on Sept. 12.
In Seoul, the KOSPI on Friday gained 11.17 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,091.52, surging 2.1 percent from 2,049.20 on Sept. 11.
Sydney gained 0.2 percent as investors grow optimistic that the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut interest rates again at its next policy meeting, while Singapore edged up 0.1 percent and Wellington put on 0.3 percent.
Mumbai soared more than 5 percent after the government said that it would slash corporate taxes from 30 to 22 percent in an effort to boost the sagging economy.
The new rates would be “comparable with the lowest tax rates in South Asian region and in Southeast Asia,” Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman said.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng on Friday closed down 33.28 points, or 0.1 percent, at 26,435.67, a fifth straight loss and a plunge of 3.4 percent from a close of 27,352.69 a week earlier. Investors were on alert for further protests in the territory following clashes between pro-democracy demonstrators and police last weekend.
Traders were also on edge in case of further attacks against Saudi Arabia following the devastating strikes that crippled two of its biggest oil plants on Sept. 14 and sent the price of crude soaring.
Both main contracts stabilized this week after the initial shock, but there have been worries of a possible conflict after the US and Saudi Arabia pointed the finger at Iran and said that they were considering their response.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last