Asian stocks advanced this week for the first time in three weeks, led by technology companies and commodity producers on optimism the global economic recovery is strengthening.
Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) surged 23 percent in Taipei as prices for dynamic-random-access-memory chips climbed to a one-month high. Canon Inc, the world’s biggest camera maker, gained 5.6 percent in Tokyo after keeping its dividend unchanged and winning approval for a takeover. BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s largest mining company and Australia’s top oil producer, gained 4.6 percent in Sydney as prices for crude and metals increased after reports showed US consumer spending and incomes climbed.
“The recent data indicate the global economy is recovering faster than originally expected,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about US$1.6 billion at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney. “It’s too early to say whether the recovery is self-sustaining, but we should know toward the end of first quarter 2010.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose 1.7 percent to 119.56 this holiday-shortened week. Technology and materials stocks had the steepest gains among the index’s 10 industry groups.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 3.5 percent this week, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.6 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index in China gained 0.9 percent. Japan’s markets were closed on Wednesday for a holiday, and most other bourses were shut on Friday for Christmas.
The MSCI gauge has climbed 34 percent this year, set for its biggest annual gain since 2003, on signs government spending and lower interest rates are bolstering economies.
Stocks in the benchmark trade at 23 times estimated earnings, compared with 18 times for the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index in the US and 16 times for the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index in Europe.
Inotera Memories surged 23 percent to NT$25.30 in Taipei, the highest since May last year. Elpida Memory Inc, Japan’s biggest maker of memory chips, climbed 12 percent. Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world’s second-biggest maker of equipment to manufacture semiconductors, advanced 9.3 percent to ¥5,880.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to keep their upward momentum amid high liquidity next week, the last in a boom year for the nation’s share market, dealers said on Friday.
Institutional investors are likely to short-cover electronic firms after the sector’s recent consolidation, triggered by a pick-up in the global demand for high-tech products, they said.
For the week to Friday, the weighted index rose 218.96 points or 2.82 percent to 7,972.59 after a 0.53 percent fall a week earlier.
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