Some Asian markets rebounded yesterday, while European stocks rallied in early trading as central banks made new multi-billion dollar cash injections in a bid to steady global markets' fears of a credit crunch
The Nikkei 225, the benchmark for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, edged up 0.2 percent to 16,800.05, recouping Friday's drop as investors bought back into stocks with strong earnings.
Yutaka Miura, manager at Shinko Securities, said gains yesterday weren't expected to be very big, and most investors were waiting to see the US markets later in the day.
PHOTO: AP
"This was mainly a technical rebound from Friday," he said.
South Korea's benchmark stock index stabilized following a 4.2 percent, or 80.19 point, decline on Friday, its third worst point drop ever.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 20.77 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 1,849.26 yesterday. South Korea said that the impact from the US subprime loan crisis on the country was limited, and vowed to deal with any credit squeeze by adding cash to the financial system if needed. The country's banks and insurers have invested US$850 million in the US subprime mortgage loan sector, the finance ministry said.
In Tokyo, the Bank of Japan injected ?600 billion (US$5 billion) into money markets yesterday to try to bring more stability to the markets.
Malaysia's central bank said it was prepared to step in with funds to keep commercial banks lending to one another at normal rates, but it had no specific plans to do so.
Australia's interbank market showed no signs of stress, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) injecting A$1.52 billion (US$1.3 billion) as part of its daily money market operation yesterday, slightly less than average as there were still funds available from Friday's operation.
The European Central Bank (ECB), the US Federal Reserve and other central banks injected US$154 billion to their systems on Thursday and US$135.7 billion on Friday to cool a credit crunch.
Malaysia's central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said yesterday that the region has "high levels of liquidity." Elsewhere in Asia, policy makers also insisted there is enough money in the banking system to warrant them staying out.
"Asia is still full of liquidity," said Tomo Kinoshita, chief Asian economist at Nomura Securities Co in Hong Kong. "It's not necessary for Asian central banks to have further accommodative monetary policy."
Some Asian share markets also made wary gains yesterday after the hammering they also took last week because of the worries over the US mortgage market.
Hong Kong share prices closed 0.45 percent higher as index heavyweight China Mobile gained on expectations that it will report strong first-half results this week.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 75.6 points or 1.3 percent at 6,011.6 while the broader All Ordinaries closed up 62.3 points or 1 percent at 6,027.5.
In Manila, shares fell 0.45 percent lower to close at 3,267.03 after rising early on bargain-hunting. Stocks in Jakarta and Singapore were also lower. New Zealand shares closed down 0.97 percent.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 stood 1.39 percent higher at 6,122.10 points shortly after the opening. In Frankfurt the DAX 30 gained 0.95 percent to 7,413.30 points and the Paris CAC 40 climbed 1.19 percent to 5,513.67. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares advanced 1.06 percent to 4,205.95 points in early trade.
The ECB said the eurozone banking market was returning to normal. However, it injected 47.67 billion euros (US$65.2 billion) into the euro-zone money markets in a one-day tender yesterday to replace Friday's special three-day tender for 61.05 billion euros.
The Federal Reserve yesterday pumped US$2 billion into the US financial system just after the stock market opened, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said.
In a statement before the financial markets opened yesterday, the New York Fed said that it "stands ready to conduct additional operations later in the day as needed."
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