Asian stocks rose for the second week, capping the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index’s biggest annual gain since 2003, after China raised its economic growth figures and Japan said industrial production increased.
“The global economy is just about bottoming out,” said Masaru Hamasaki, chief strategist at Tokyo-based Toyota Asset Management Co, which oversees the equivalent of US$14 billion. “I don’t expect huge economic growth, but I do see things recovering.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose 0.7 percent to 120.45 in a holiday-shortened week. The gauge climbed 34 percent last year, its biggest annual gain since 2003, on signs government spending and lower interest rates are bolstering economies.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.5 percent in the country’s three-day trading week, after factory output increased in November from October and the government said on Dec. 25 that gross domestic product will probably expand 1.4 percent in the year starting April 1.
The Nikkei 225 has plunged 73 percent since it climbed to an intraday record of 38,957.44 on the final business day of 1989, the world’s worst performer in the period. Japan’s broader TOPIX index rose 5.6 percent this year, the lowest return among benchmark equity gauges for the world’s 10 largest markets.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index both climbed 1.7 percent this week.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 4.3 percent this week as China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6 percent from 9 percent on Dec. 25, and said last year’s quarterly figures will also increase.
“Consumer stocks are good bets as they will receive most of the government support next year,” Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities Co in Shanghai, said on Monday. Chinese central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川) said on Thursday the People’s Bank of China would maintain a “moderately loose” monetary policy.
The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 80 percent last year as government spending and a credit boom helped the nation’s economy recover from its steepest slump in more than a decade.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to see further upside in the week ahead on positive sentiment over the outlook for this year after the market gained 78.3 percent over the year, dealers said.
Foreign institutional investors are likely to rebuild their portfolios at the beginning of a new year, they said, adding high liquidity may continue to boost the market.
The market is expected to challenge 8,300 points or even go higher next week amid optimism over the global economic recovery. For the week to Thursday, the weighted index rose 215.52 points, or 2.70 percent, to 8,188.11 after a 2.82 percent increase a week earlier.
“After the market stood above the key 8,000 point level (for the first time since mid-June 2008) earlier this week, more and more investors are looking into a good 2010,” Grand Cathay Securities Corp (大華證券) analyst Mars Hsu said.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a