Asian stocks climbed for a third straight week as profits at companies from Sony Corp to Tata Motors Ltd exceeded estimates, lifting confidence the global economy is recovering.
Sony, the maker of Vaio computers and PlayStation 3 game consoles, jumped 12.9 percent in Tokyo as cost cuts led to a smaller-than-expected loss. Tata, the Indian automaker that owns Jaguar and Land Rover, rallied 13.1 percent following a gain in net income as production costs fell. PT Bumi Resources, Indonesia’s biggest coal producer, soared 37 percent after raising US$375 million to buy back shares and fund expansion.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index advanced 3.6 percent this week to a 10-month high of 111.88. That capped an 8.4 percent climb last month and a fifth month of increases. Asian markets have rallied 58 percent since the MSCI benchmark dropped to a more-than five-year low on March 9.
“An earnings and economic recovery in the second half was rather like a wishful thought,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Daiwa Asset Management Co, which oversees the equivalent of US$90 billion. “That’s getting more likely now and increasing investors’ appetite for risk assets.”
Japan’s TOPIX index completed an 11-day winning streak, the longest since 1990, to rise 3.2 percent for the week.
Bumi helped Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index rise 6.3 percent, the region’s strongest rally. China’s Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.2 percent higher, rebounding from its biggest one-day drop since November on Wednesday.
Sony climbed 13 percent to ¥2,675. The company reported a first-quarter net loss on Thursday that was less than half analysts’ estimates. Nomura Holdings Inc lifted its rating on the stock to “buy” from “neutral.”
“The April-June result was a surprise,” Nomura’s Eiichi Katayama wrote in a report. Cost cutting is progressing faster than expected and further reductions in purchasing expenses could lead to higher earnings forecasts, he said.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to trade in a narrow range as market sentiment turns cautious before high-tech firms release sales data for last month, dealers said on Friday.
Investors are watching the US closely for more economic data such as consumer prices in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the global economy, they said.
Wall Street is likely to continue dictating the direction of the local bourse as foreign institutional investors tend to follow US market movements, they added.
As it moves closer to 7,200, the market is expected to encounter profit taking pressure before moving below 7,000 with technical support at around 6,900, dealers said.
For the week, the weighted index rose 104.43 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7,077.71 after a 1.78 percent increase a week earlier. Average daily turnover stood at NT$146.38 billion (US$4.46 billion), compared with NT$143.43 billion a week ago.
While Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) posted a jump in net profit for the second quarter on global demand, investors need more information to decide whether a broader recovery is on track, Grand Cathay Securities Corp (大華證券) analyst Mars Hsu said.
“TSMC represents just the upstream electronic sector. We want to know whether high-tech firms in the middle and downstream segments also fare well,” Hsu said.
Other regional markets on Friday:
JAKARTA: Up 1.09 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 25.10 points to 2,323.23.
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 1.23 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 14.24 points to 1,174.90.
MANILA: Up 1.21 percent.
The composite index rose 33.15 points to 2,798.33.
MUMBAI: Up 1.83 percent. The 30-share SENSEX rose 282.35 points to 15,670.31.
The index hit its highest level in more than a year.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS