Asian stocks rose this week, with the benchmark index posting its biggest weekly gain since January, as economic data from the US boosted confidence in the world’s largest economy amid speculation China would do more to support growth.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 3 percent to 120.5 this week, its biggest weekly advance since the five days ended Jan. 20. The gauge pared its gain on Friday, as reports showed China’s exports and new lending missed estimates and Singapore’s economy contracted in the second quarter.
For the US, “expectations have been cut substantially, so even a weak number will appear to be a good number,” said Binay Chandgothia, a Hong Kong-based portfolio manager at Principal Global Investors. “If you look at policy noise out of China, it is kind of turning to supporting growth. Markets are reasonably cheap.”
The Asia-Pacific measure retreated 8.5 percent from a Feb. 29 high through Friday as Europe’s deepening debt crisis and slower growth in the US and China dampened the global demand outlook.
Taiwan’s TAIEX advanced 3.1 percent to close at 7,441.12 points this week, while South Korea’s KOSPI jumped 5.3 percent after the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 3.9 percent this week, its biggest weekly gain since February, even after the Bank of Japan refrained from adding stimulus to the economy and machinery orders rebounded less than forecast.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2.4 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.7 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1.3 percent. The nation’s employers added more jobs last month than economists estimated, and the Reserve Bank of Australia raised its growth forecast for this year on stronger-than-expected consumer demand.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.1 percent in a week that was shortened by a holiday. The city state on Wednesday cut the upper end of its economic growth forecast for this year amid the global slowdown.
Shares in Asia rose this week after a US Labor Department report showed US payrolls climbed more than forecast even as the jobless rate unexpectedly rose. Growth in the services industry last month accelerated from a month earlier.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila rose 0.13 percent, or 6.74 points, from Thursday to 5,263.35.
Wellington eased 0.16 percent, or 5.82 points, from Thursday to 3,577.80.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEW PRODUCTS: MediaTek plans to roll out new products this quarter, including a flagship mobile phone chip and a GB10 chip that it is codeveloping with Nvidia Corp MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday projected that revenue this quarter would dip by 7 to 13 percent to between NT$130.1 billion and NT$140 billion (US$4.38 billion and US$4.71 billion), compared with NT$150.37 billion last quarter, which it attributed to subdued front-loading demand and unfavorable foreign exchange rates. The Hsinchu-based chip designer said that the forecast factored in the negative effects of an estimated 6 percent appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the greenback. “As some demand has been pulled into the first half of the year and resulted in a different quarterly pattern, we expect the third quarter revenue to decline sequentially,”
RESHAPING COMMERCE: Major industrialized economies accepted 15 percent duties on their products, while charges on items from Mexico, Canada and China are even bigger US President Donald Trump has unveiled a slew of new tariffs that boosted the average US rate on goods from across the world, forging ahead with his turbulent effort to reshape international commerce. The baseline rates for many trading partners remain unchanged at 10 percent from the duties Trump imposed in April, easing the worst fears of investors after the president had previously said they could double. Yet his move to raise tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35 percent threatens to inject fresh tensions into an already strained relationship, while nations such as Switzerland and New Zealand also saw increased
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