Asian stocks rose this week after Chinese shares rallied amid signs that the world’s second-largest economy is stabilizing and as companies from Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) to Tata Steel Ltd posted profit that exceeded estimates.
China Shenhua Energy Co (神華能源), China’s No. 1 coal producer, advanced 6.4 percent in Hong Kong after domestic industrial electricity demand increased last month. Lenovo, the world’s biggest maker of personal computers, gained 4.4 percent, while Tata Steel, India’s biggest producer of the metal, jumped 7.6 percent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 percent this week, as the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.8 percent and the Hang Seng Index led developed market gains after reports on industrial production and exports this month added to signs that China’s economy is improving.
The TAIEX rose 0.9 percent this week, ending at 7,925 from 7,856.14 on Aug. 9. On Friday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) gained 0.76 percent to NT$79.10, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was 0.52 percent higher at NT$96.50.
China Everbright Securities Co (中國光大證券) on Friday said it was investigating a trading error after the Shanghai Composite Index posted its biggest intraday surge since March 2009, briefly swinging from a loss to a gain of as much as 5.6 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index was valued at 9.1 times estimated earnings as of Friday, compared with multiples of 13.04 for the MSCI Asia Pacific Index and 15.02 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 4 percent. The trading week in the territory was shortened as the market was shut on Wednesday due to a typhoon. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index jumped 6.5 percent.
Japan’s TOPIX gained 0.2 percent, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent. The Japanese economy expanded an annualized 2.6 percent in the second quarter, slowing from a revised 3.8 percent in the previous three months.
“Next year, there is a chance that Japan goes into a recession and the financial markets usually see that half-a-year in advance. I would expect the stock market to be peaking now,” Japan Macro Advisors chief economist Takuji Okubo said on Bloomberg television.
The TOPIX has gained 33 percent this year — the world’s best-performing developed equity market.
South Korea’s KOSPI gained 2.1 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 1.2 percent.
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.4 percent and trading was temporarily halted on Friday after a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck.
About 50 percent of the companies on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that reported quarterly earnings since July 1 and for which estimates are available have exceeded expectations, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Energy firms posted the biggest advance among the index’s 10 industry groups this week.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila closed 0.83 percent, or 54.76 points, lower from Thursday to finish at 6,525.95.
Wellington fell 0.36 percent, or 16.39 points, to 4,513.88.
Mumbai dropped 3.97 percent, or 769.41 points, to 18,598.18.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS