Hong Kong stocks gave back earlier gains to end flat on Friday, posting their worst week in more than three months, on concerns over persistent political unrest and uncertainty about a US-China trade deal.
The Hang Seng Index (HSI) was unchanged at 26,326.66, while the China Enterprises Index (HSCE) was flat at 10,424.80 points.
For the week, HSI fell 4.8 percent, while HSCE lost 4.2 percent, both posting their steepest weekly losses since the week of Aug. 2.
The Chinese and Hong Kong governments on Friday condemned an attack by a “violent mob” on Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng (鄭若驊) in London, the first direct altercation between demonstrators and a government minister during months of often violent protests.
Hong Kong was on Friday expected to confirm that it plunged into recession for the first time in a decade, amid concerns the economy could be in even worse shape than feared as months of anti-government protests take a heavy toll.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific rose 0.6 percent to 164.41, but was down 1 percent for the week.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday ended up 75.18 points, or 0.66 percent, at 11,525.60, down 0.5 percent for the week.
Japan’s TOPIX rose 0.7 percent at the close in Tokyo, but was down 0.4 percent for the week. The Nikkei also rose 0.7 percent on the day, but was down 1 percent for the week.
In South Korea, the KOSPI gained 1.1 percent on Friday to the highest since May.
The S&P BSE SENSEX on Friday rose 0.2 percent to 40,356.69 in Mumbai, clocking its longest weekly winning streak since the end of September. The NIFTY 50 added 0.2 percent on Friday, but was down 0.3 percent on the week.
The Philippine Stock Exchange was virtually unchanged on Friday, but was down 1.7 percent for the week.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange was little changed on Friday, falling 1 percent for the week.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 on Friday added 0.9 percent, bringing its weekly gain to 1 percent.
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
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