Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 finished more than 18 percent higher over the year, bolstered recently by hopes for progress in US and China trade talks.
In the final trading session of the year, the bellwether index closed at 23,656.62, an 18.2 percent gain compared with its closing price at the end of last year.
The broader TOPIX gained more than 15 percent over the year, as the Tokyo markets close until Monday next week.
Photo: AFP
The Nikkei got off to a bad start this year, with sharp declines following its first annual loss since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the world’s third-largest economy.
The market since then has been dominated by the trade dispute between the world’s top two economies, the US and China, resulting in “seesaw trade,” Daiwa Securities Capital Markets chief technical analyst Eiji Kinouchi said.
Over the past few weeks, Japanese shares have enjoyed sizable gains, following US stocks to new highs and reflecting investor relief over a recent thaw in US-China trade ties.
“The primary focus of the market next year is the US presidential election,” Kinouchi said. “This will also affect prospects for the US-China trade negotiations.”
The Nikkei yesterday lost 0.76 percent and the TOPIX fell 0.68 percent as investors cashed in ahead of the New Year holidays, with thin trading.
“Many investors are taking nine straight days of holidays, including today,” which resulted in light volumes, Okasan Online Securities Co said in a note.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mixed with activity thinning as investors wind down for the end of the year, with lingering optimism over easing US-China trade tensions driving some gains.
Hong Kong finished up 0.3 percent, while Shanghai was more than 1 percent higher.
Taipei, Sydney, Jakarta and Manila were also marginally down.
“Investors appear to be growing a tad apprehensive about chasing the record setting US equity market risk-reward premise into year-end,” Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader said in a note.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS