Asian share markets closed mixed in generally timid trade on Friday with a further upward spike in oil prices overnight and another fall on the Dow Jones Industrial index weighing on a number of key bourses.
Some unfavorable economic data in Japan saw Tokyo shares slip back after the market resumed trading following a holiday break on Thursday, while Australian shares which have been on a record-breaking run fell back for a second consecutive day as profit takers continued to pocket gains.
Hong Kong stocks also got the blues with the Hang Seng index off more than one percent on Wall Street's slip and profit taking ahead of the expiry of the futures contract next Tuesday. Upcoming public holidays next week also turned investors cautious.
In the Philippines, the central bank's decision to kept key interest rates intact at its monthly monetary policy meeting despite a rise in the US Fed's target rate, helped boost sentiment and fuel a one percent gain in the main index.
Taiwan share prices closed down 0.76 percent on Friday after a weaker Wall Street overnight amid concerns over rising crude oil prices, dealers said.
Sentiment was also dampened by caution ahead of the weekend and a public holiday next week, with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Tuesday when the market will be closed.
The TAIEX closed down 45.04 points at 5,892.21, off a high of 5,943.87 and a low of 5,882.88, on turnover of NT$80.9 billion (US$2.39 billion).
Japanese share prices fell 1.13 percent on Friday after Wall Street extended losses overnight on a further rise in crude oil prices and amid increased wariness over the outlook for the Japanese economy, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark NIKKEI-225 index lost 124.25 points to 10,895.16, its first close under 11,000 since Aug. 23. The broader TOPIX index of all First Section shares fell 11.71 points or 1.05 percent to 1,102.37.
The Tokyo market was closed on Thursday for a public holiday.
Hong Kong share prices closed the week sharply lower, dropping 1.61 percent following a fresh upturn in oil prices which prompted further losses on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 213.59 points at 13,066.84, off a low of 13,035.16 and high of 13,253.33.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was down 87.01 points or 1.88 percent at 4,538.68, off a low of 4,511.15.
Chinese share prices closed 2.0 percent lower on Friday, reversing sharp early gains as investors took quick profits on the petrochemical and financial stocks which had led the sharp gains Thursday, dealers said.
They said there was no new lead to spark the reversal, with profit-taking simply reasserting itself after the recent sharp run-up as investors bet the government would be forthcoming with more market-friendly policies.
The Shanghai A-share Index fell 30.68 points to 1,506.14. Turnover was 28.46 billion yuan (US$3.43 billion) while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 8.23 points or 2.12 percent at 379.80 on turnover of 17.96 billion yuan.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A- and B-shares, closed down 29.22 points or 1.99 percent at 1,435.56 on turnover of 28.67 billion yuan.
Australian share prices closed down 0.31 percent on Friday as investors decided to cash in gains from the market's prolonged rally, dealers said.
The benchmark SP/ASX 200 index closed down 11.3 points at 3,623.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 10.3 points at 3,635.6.
Singapore share prices closed down 0.76 percent as investors continued to take profits after the benchmark index breached the key 2,000 points level earlier in the week, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index closed down 15.18 points at 1,973.46, and the broader All Singapore Equities index shed 1.78 points to finish at 516.24.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
JET JUICE: The war on Iran’s secondary effects have seen fuel prices skyrocket, knocking flight schedules down to earth in return as airlines struggle with costs Airline passengers should brace for more irritation in the next few months as carriers worldwide cancel flights and ground planes to cope with stratospheric increases in jet-fuel prices. Dutch flag carrier KLM is the latest company to cut its schedule, saying on Thursday that it would scrap 80 return flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the coming month. That puts it in the same league as United Airlines Holdings Inc, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which have all pruned itineraries to mitigate costs. Global capacity for next month has been reduced by about 3 percentage points, with all
Taiwan is attracting a growing number of foreign jobseekers as companies increasingly recruit overseas talent to ease labor shortages and expand global reach, recruitment platform 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said yesterday. More than 40,000 foreign nationals searched for jobs in Taiwan through the platform last year, a 28 percent increase from a year earlier, the company said. Malaysians accounted for the largest share of overseas jobseekers at 12.2 percent, followed by Indonesians at 11.9 percent and Vietnamese at 10.8 percent. Indonesian applicants surged more than 50 percent year-on-year, while Vietnamese jobseekers rose by more than 30 percent. Applicants from the
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
RSS