Global equity markets soared yesterday, lifted by mammoth share price gains for banks, as governments worldwide stepped up their fight against the worst financial crisis in decades, traders said.
In Taipei, the benchmark TAIEX rose 328.43 points, or 5.82 percent, at 5,970.38, off a low of 5,858.19 and a high of 5,982.64, on turnover of NT$105.33 billion (US$3.27 billion).
The Taipei market opened sharply higher and the momentum continued until the end of the session on hopes the US will establish an agency similar to that set up in the 1980s that put a stop to the savings and loans crisis, dealers said.
Market sentiment has also improved after the government said it would step in with its National Stabilization Fund, they said.
Hong Kong shares closed up 9.6 percent to 19,327.73, Japan’s shares rose 3.76 percent to 11,920.86 and South Korean shares closed 4.6 percent higher at 1,455.78.
The Shanghai market soared by nearly 9.5 percent, also after China abolished a tax on stock transactions, hoping to reverse a slide on the bourse that threatened to affect millions of middle-class Chinese.
Singapore shares made their biggest one-day gain in more than a year to close 5.78 percent higher, Australian shares rebounded to close up 4.3 percent and Thai share prices ended 4.07 percent higher.
“The rally is a combination of a knee-jerk reaction to the reports of the new rescue plan and a mere tracking of movement on Wall Street,” said Seiichi Suzuki, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities. “Market participants are also looking at key futures indexes on Wall Street, because it is hard for players in Asia to digest fully the impact of the latest developments related to the global credit crisis.”
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank and Bank of England each lent an additional US$40 billion to financial institutions struggling to obtain funds.
In early European trade yesterday, London surged 6.88 percent, Paris gained 5.40 percent and Frankfurt rallied by 3.87 percent.
British bank HBOS, which on Thursday was rescued by a peer, Lloyds TSB, saw its share price spike 35 percent on London’s FTSE 100 index.
“The creation of a huge government sponsored vehicle to take on so-called toxic investments in the US, short selling restrictions in the UK and incentives to encourage investing in equities in China are all having a positive effect on markets,” CMC Markets dealer Matt Buckland said.
“The combined efforts are so great that there seems to be a coherent belief that this could actually be sufficient to draw a line under what has been a tumultuous 18 months for the markets,” he said.
Stocks also got a boost after British and New York state authorities temporarily banned short selling.
Meanwhile, Russian shares rocketed yesterday after highly volatile trading following an injection of billions of dollars by the government aimed at staving off a massive financial crisis.
The main RTS index soared 15.5 percent and the MICEX shot up 23 percent just after being suspended earlier in the day for rising too quickly following the sharpest falls in a decade earlier this week.
Also See: China weighs Wall Street’s dangers and opportunities
Also See: TAIEX makes dramatic reversal
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS