Asian stocks rose this week, driving the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index to its highest level in 11 weeks as economic reports spurred confidence in the global recovery, boosting commodity prices.
Datong Coal Industry Co (大同煤業股份), China’s third-largest coal producer, jumped 14 percent in Shanghai as an index of the country’s manufacturing industry rose last month. Lihir Gold Ltd soared 31 percent in Sydney after rejecting a bid from Australia’s largest gold producer. Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co, which completed the world’s largest initial public offering in two years, rose 1.6 percent on its first full day of trading in Tokyo. Hyundai Motor Co jumped 10 percent in Seoul, as South Korean government’s exports report beat economist estimates.
“Growth is starting to look more and more entrenched,” said Nader Naeimi, an investment strategist in Sydney at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees about US$90 billion globally. “Investors are now looking for the recovery to turn into an outright expansion.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index advanced 1.7 percent this week as economic reports from the US and Asia showed signs of global recovery, and as commodity prices rose.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 2.6 percent this week to its highest close since October 2008, as the yen continued to weaken from the previous week, boosting the earnings outlook for companies dependent on overseas demand.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.3 percent this week, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 3.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.2 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 1.5 percent. Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, India, the Philippines and Indonesia were closed on April 2 for holidays.
China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 55.1 from 52 in February, according to Li & Fung Group (利豐), a Hong Kong-based company that releases data for the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. The figure was in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
“The economy is in a good shape and growth is still gaining momentum,” said Dai Ming, a fund manager at Shanghai Kingsun Investment Management & Consulting Co. “We are definitely in a growth cycle.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index climbed 3.9 percent last quarter, compared with 2.7 percent for the MSCI World Index, as economic data improved. The Asian gauge’s increase was its fourth-straight quarterly advance, lifting the average price of companies to 1.66 times corporate net worth, the highest level since September.
Taiwanese share prices closed higher on Friday, with the TAIEX moving up 12.84 points, or 0.16 percent, from Thursday to close at 8,025.93.
The local bourse opened at 8,046.29 and fluctuated between a low of 8,021.91 and a high of 8,050.99 during the day’s trading. Market turnover totaled NT$108.12 billion (US$3.41 billion).
Five of the eight major stock categories lost ground, with textile issues dropping the most at 0.36 percent. Construction shares plunged 0.25 percent, paper and pulp issues were down 0.19 percent, foodstuff shares moved down 0.05 percent and banking and financial stocks were down 0.02 percent.
Markets were closed for a public holiday in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
DEFENSE: The US would assist Taiwan in developing a new command and control system, and it would be based on the US-made Link-22, a senior official said The Ministry of National Defense is to propose a special budget to replace the military’s currently fielded command and control system, bolster defensive resilience and acquire more attack drones, a senior defense official said yesterday. The budget would be presented to the legislature in August, the source said on condition of anonymity. Taiwan’s decade-old Syun An (迅安, “Swift Security”) command and control system is a derivative of Lockheed Martin’s Link-16 developed under Washington’s auspices, they said. The Syun An system is difficult to operate, increasingly obsolete and has unresolved problems related to integrating disparate tactical data across the three branches of the military,
RSS