Asian stocks closed narrowly mixed on Friday with investors marking time ahead of the mid-year corporate reporting season and the release of key data from the US, dealers said.
They said the markets had shrugged off solid overnight gains on Wall Street, preferring select-profit taking while the overall tone remained positive with many markets near multi-year highs.
Investors are anticipating strong corporate profits from the US, the world's growth engine, and elsewhere, and if companies deliver on their expectations then another rally would appear likely.
Taipei, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and Singapore all closed flat while the Philippines was higher on an apparent easing in political tensions as Shanghai fell on the back of profit warnings.
In Taipei share prices closed 0.12 percent lower as investors opted to lock in profits rather than push the upside further despite gains on Wall Street and a fall in crude oil prices overnight.
Dealers said the bellwether electronics stocks came under particularly heavy profit-taking pressure but rotational interest in financial and cement stocks provided support on the downside.
"Overseas investors are reducing their shares in South Korea and are likely to put more funds into Taiwan," said Michael Hsu (許派一), a Jih Sun Securities Investment (日盛投信) assistant vice president.
"Taiwan dollar's relatively steady performance also helps boost sentiment and keeps them on the buying side," Hsu said.
The TAIEX closed down 7.76 points at 6,410.59 on turnover of NT$106.73 billion (US$3.34 billion).
For the week ending Friday, the TAIEX gained 209.19 points or 3.37 percent to 6,410.59, following a 1.13 percent decline in the previous week. Average daily turnover stood at NT$103.05 billion, up from NT$72.11 billion a week earlier.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to stay firm next week amid stronger foreign investor support especially for the bellwether electronics sector, dealers said on Friday.
Foreign investors have resumed their buying activities evidenced in this week's major gains and are likely to continue next week partly due to the New Taiwan dollar's steady performance, the dealers said.
The local currency rose 0.54 percent over the week to end at NT$31.942 against the greenback on Friday. It finished at 32.115 a week ago.
Tokyo share prices closed flat, after giving up early gains as the market waited for confirmation of strong US data and Japanese corporate results which begin coming out next week.
Japanese semiconductor and high-tech shares posted gains despite South Korean chipmaking giant Samsung reporting net profit for the second quarter that was sharply down.
Investors instead are waiting for figures next week from the world's biggest chipmaker, US-based Intel, analysts said.
The NIKKEI-225 index fell 5.58 points to 11,758.68.
Seoul share prices closed 0.22 percent lower, as some investors took profits after a weak Samsung Electronics earnings report. The KOSPI index closed down 2.33 points at 1,059.60.
Hong Kong share prices closed little changed after a week of solid gains which saw the benchmark index gain 3.87 percent on the back of interest in property stocks. The Hang Seng Index closed up 12.75 points at 14,504.29.
Shanghai share prices closed 1.32 percent lower on Friday, with sentiment hit, especially in the power and airline stocks, after several key firms issued severe profit-warnings.
The Shanghai A-share Index fell 14.42 points to 1,078.84, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 4.12 points or 1.63 percent at 249.08. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A- and B-shares, closed down 14.30 points at 1,026.12.
Sydney share prices closed flat on after a day of lackluster end-of-week trading with investors failing to respond to Wall Street's strong overnight gains.
The SP/ASX 200 index finished down 2.7 points at 4,292.4.
Singapore share prices closed flat as the market consolidated multi-year highs this week, with investors taking profits in Creative Technology after the under-pressure MP3 maker rebounded.
The Straits Times Index rose 0.13 points to 2,250.29.
In Kuala Lumpur share prices closed 0.46 percent lower on profit-taking in the blue chips amid continued speculative interest in smaller stocks. The composite index lost 4.22 points to 916.84.
Bangkok share prices closed 0.45 percent lower on profit-taking after a recent gains.
Jakarta share prices closed 0.45 percent lower on profit-taking after a recent gains. The composite index closed down 5.108 points at 1,131.461.
In Manila share prices closed 0.94 percent higher as political tensions sparked by allegations of vote rigging against Philippine President Gloria Arroyo appeared to ease, at least for the moment. The composite index rose 17.62 points to 1,897.08.
Wellington share prices closed 0.12 percent higher, propped up by continuing strength in market leader Telecom. The NZSX-50 gross index rose 4.05 points to 3,325.27.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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