Asian stocks fell for the first week in three amid a deteriorating outlook for corporate profits and doubts over whether US stimulus measures will succeed in alleviating the financial crisis.
Nomura Holdings Inc, Japan’s biggest brokerage, fell 17 percent in the week on share-sale plans and as US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he needed time to work out details of a bank-rescue plan unveiled on Tuesday. Sony Corp, which makes a quarter of its sales in the US, lost 7.8 percent in Tokyo. Electronics maker Pioneer Corp dropped 13 percent in Tokyo after it widened its full-year loss forecast.
“Investors are disappointed with the lack of clarity on the US bank-rescue plan,” said Daphne Roth, Singapore-based head of Asia equity research at ABN Amro Private Bank, which manages about US$27 billion of Asian assets. “We will see more earnings downgrades going into the next few months and that’s going to drag down Asian stocks at least till the end of the first half.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index slipped 2 percent to 81.75 in the past five days, following a 3.9 percent increase in the previous two weeks. The gauge is down 8.7 percent this year amid mounting signs the global recession is hurting corporate profits.
Taiwanese shares are expected to be volatile next week as the market moves closer to the nearest resistance level of around 4,700 points, dealers said on Friday.
Many investors would like to remain sidelined, watching closely how Wall Street performs amid caution over the effects of a massive US economic stimulus package, they said.
However, adequate liquidity is likely to lend support to the broader market, with foreign institutional investors continuing to rebuild their positions by targeting the bellwether electronics sector, they added.
The market is expected to pull back after jumping above the 4,700 point mark, while there may be a floor at around 4,300 to 4,400 points, according to dealers.
In the week to Friday, the weighted index rose 119.25 points or 2.67 percent to 4,590.50 after a 5.26 percent increase from a week earlier.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$73.60 billion (US$2.16 billion), compared with NT$59.76 billion a week ago.
President Securities (統一證券) analyst Steven Huang said the bourse has staged a significant comeback after investors returned to the trading floor from the Lunar New Year holiday ending on Feb. 1.
In other regional markets on Friday it was:
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 1.7 percent. The KLCI added 15.24 points to close at 909.84.
JAKARTA: Up 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index rose 13.32 points to 1,338.74 in thin volume. MANILA: Down 0.2 percent. The composite index gained 4.44 points to 1,919.66.
MUMBAI: Up 1.78 percent. The SENSEX index rose 168.91 points to 9,634.74.
WELLINGTON: Flat. The NZX-50 rose 0.63 points or 0.02 percent to 2,750.77.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2