South Korean stocks rose this week after US forces moved into Baghdad, boosting optimism a swift victory over Iraq will help the global economy. Exporters such as Samsung Electronics Co and Hyundai Motor Co gained.
The KOSPI index climbed 4.5 percent for the week, the best performing index in the region. LG Card Co and Kookmin Bank advanced after a financial regulator report showed a drop in overdue credit-card payments and lenders bought bonds from credit-card companies.
Japan's stock benchmarks declined for a second week. Shares of some of the nation's largest companies such as Toyota Motor Corp slid on concern that companies rushing to return part of their pension funds to the government are pushing prices lower.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 3.2 percent this week, with the Nikkei closing at its fourth 20-year low since the beginning of March. The benchmark rounded off its worst week in 10. The TOPIX lost 1.7 percent.
Indexes in Hong Kong and Singapore declined for the week, led by Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd, Ltd, after a deadly flu-like disease forced both carriers to cut flights because of a decline in travel.
Samsung Electronics, which generates about a fifth of its sales in the US, was the biggest boost to the Kospi. The stock added 0.5 percent to 285,000 won this week. Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea's largest automaker, jumped 7.5 percent to 26,550 won, becoming the fifth-largest contributor to the index's gain.
LG Card Co and Kookmin Bank advanced after a financial regulator report showed a drop in overdue credit-card payments and lenders bought bonds from credit-card companies.
Kookmin Bank, the largest shareholder of Kookmin Credit Card Co, gained 4.1 percent to 1,300 won.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
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