Asian markets advanced yesterday, reversing heavy morning losses and tracking a surge in Shanghai after China announced new measures to staunch a mainland rout that has fueled fears about the economy.
European stocks also climbed, as investors speculated that the fallout from Greece’s debt crisis can be contained. The STOXX Europe 600 Index added 2.1 percent to 380.71 at 1:45pm in London, after flirting with a correction during the past two days. The measure closed just under 10 percent below its April record on Wednesday.
The gains in Asia come after regional shares took a hammering on Wednesday as shell-shocked traders were buffeted by the crisis in China, which has wiped trillions off valuations, and fears about Greece’s future in the eurozone.
Commodity prices were also sideswiped, with one analyst saying a tonne of iron ore was now cheaper in China than a tonne of cabbage.
Shanghai rose 5.76 percent, adding 202.14 points to 3,709.33 on a volatile day. It had tumbled 3.4 percent at the open, but soared as much as 6.38 percent in the afternoon — a 10 percent swing.
In late trade Hong Kong was up more than 4 percent, having slipped 0.45 percent soon after opening.
Tokyo recovered from losses of more than 3 percent to end 0.6 percent, or 117.86 points, higher at 19,855.50.
Seoul added 0.58 percent, or 11.6 points, to 2,027.81, and Sydney was slightly higher, adding 1.5 points to 5,471.00. Both indices had fallen about 1.6 percent in the morning.
Taipei extended losses from a day earlier, with the index ending down 61.98 points, or 0.69 percent, at 8,914.13.
After a series of failed measures, China’s market regulator on Wednesday barred “big” shareholders — defined as those with stakes of more than 5 percent — and executives of listed companies from selling their shares for the next six months.
“Investor confidence is recovering,” Central China Securities Co (中原證券) strategist Zhang Gang (張剛) said.
Police and security regulators also launched a joint investigation yesterday into “vicious short-selling,” Xinhua news agency reported.
However, Templeton Emerging Markets Group chairman Mark Mobius said the latest announcement out of Beijing “suggests desperation” by the leadership.
“It actually creates more fear because it shows that they’ve lost control,” he told Bloomberg News.
Shanghai had risen more than 150 percent in the 12 months to its June 12 peak in a borrowing-fueled frenzy enhanced by hopes for economy-boosting measures by the government. However, it has given up about 30 percent since then.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique