Asian stocks rose for a second consecutive week as employment reports in the US and Australia spurred optimism global growth will regain traction.
Canon Inc., which gets more than a quarter of its sales from the Americas, gained 5.6 percent in Tokyo and Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, rose 1.4 percent. National Australia Bank Ltd rallied 2.4 percent in Sydney on speculation it won’t need to raise capital to finance a takeover. SM Prime Holdings Inc, the Philippines’ biggest shopping mall operator, jumped 9.5 percent as export growth boosted optimism in the nation’s economy.
“The question you should ask yourselves is what could go right from here, rather than what could go wrong,” said Paul Xiradis, who manages about US$10 billion as chief executive officer of Ausbil Dexia Ltd in Sydney. “We could see a big swing-around back into some riskier assets, and, given the positioning of the market, it could be quite powerful.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.4 percent in the week, the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 1.3 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.4 percent this week as the country’s statistics bureau said employers added 30,900 more workers last month from July.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.4 percent.
A Cabinet Office report on Sept. 10 showed that GDP grew at an annualized 1.5 percent rate in the three months ended June 30, faster than the 0.4 percent reported last month.
“The jobs data put the brakes on pessimism that the global economy is moving into a recession,” said Yoji Takeda, who helps manage about US$1.1 billion at RBC Investment (Asia) Ltd in Hong Kong. “The market’s mood is improving. Some investors are becoming more bullish.”
Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 54.57, or 0.7 percent, to 7,890.11 at the 1:30pm close of Taipei trading on Friday, snapping three days of declines. The benchmark index advanced 0.8 percent this week.
Buying focused largely on large-cap stocks due to their relatively low valuations, dealers said.
“It was a fund-driven upside as many investors found a safe haven to park money,” TLG Asset Management (台壽保投信) analyst Arch Shih (施博元) said.
“Low-priced large cap stocks, especially bellwether electronics, served as a magnet for idle funds,” Shih said.
However, the buying did not mean investors are not still concerned about global demand for high tech products, Shih added.
Other markets on Friday:
Wellington rose 0.3 percent, or 9.23 points, from Thursday to 3,161.00.
Singapore, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai were closed for public holidays.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS