Asian stocks rose for the first time in five weeks as Japan and China signaled more measures to buttress their economies from the deepening global recession.
PetroChina Co, the nation’s largest oil producer, climbed 12 percent in Hong Kong after crude oil surged and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said China could boost spending plans any time. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Japan’s biggest bank, gained 4.5 percent in Tokyo after Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso ordered more economic stimulus measures. Commonwealth Bank of Australia jumped 12 percent, pacing gains among financial companies, as three US banks said earnings were improving.
“Markets can take comfort that countries with the ability to do so are providing fiscal stimulus, rather than waiting till it’s too difficult to fight the momentum,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about US$2.6 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd in Melbourne. “We’re seeing some money parked in safe havens returning to the market.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose 3.9 percent to 74.72 this week, snapping a four-week, 14 percent decline. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 5.5 percent to 7,569.28, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 5.1 percent.
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd, the world’s third-biggest maker of customized chips, plunged 48 percent after announcing a US$300 million rights offering. Elpida Memory Inc, Japan’s biggest memory-chip maker, slumped 23 percent after a merger with Taiwanese rivals failed to materialize.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to extend gains next week as more foreign institutional investors return, dealers said.
A stronger New Taiwan dollar against the greenback is likely to prompt foreign investors to buy, they said.
Electronic stocks may continue momentum as investors have embraced high hopes that profitability will improve. The financial sector is also likely to gain.
For the week to Friday, the market rose 243.76 points or 5.24 percent to 4,897.39. Average daily turnover stood at NT$97.19 billion (US$2.82 billion), compared with NT$84.39 billion a week ago.
Since the beginning of last month, the bourse has gained almost 15 percent.
Mega Securities (兆豐證券) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said investors should watch how General Motors resolves its financial difficulties.
“If negative news emerges related to GM, Wall Street may pull back and hurt its foreign counterparts, including Taiwan,” Huang said.
Other markets on Friday:
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.6 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 5.06 points to 843.45.
JAKARTA: Up 1.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index rose 17.02 points to 1,327.43.
MANILA: Down 1.2 percent. The composite index lost 23.57 points to 1,856.10.
WELLINGTON: Up 1.28 percent. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 31.77 points to 2,523.39.
MUMBAI: Up 4.95 percent. The SENSEX rose 412.86 points to 8,756.61. The 30-share index achieved its second straight day of gains on Wall Street’s positive performance.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
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