Asian stocks weakened after minutes of a US Federal Reserve meeting signaled bond purchases may be cut sooner than expected, erasing earlier gains made after China outlined its broadest economic reforms since the 1990s.
Newcrest Mining Ltd slipped 11 percent, pacing declines among gold producers as prices for the precious metal dropped on Fed tapering bets.
Citic Securities Co jumped 14 percent in Hong Kong, leading gains among Chinese brokerages, as the government flagged policy changes that may lead to ending the ban on mainland initial public offerings.
Honda Motor Co rose 5 percent, leading Japanese exporters higher, as the yen headed for its longest streak of weekly losses since February.
About five shares gained for every four that fell on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which declined 0.2 percent to 141.23 this week. The measure advanced 9 percent this year through Friday on bets the Fed would maintain record stimulus, the Bank of Japan’s efforts to weaken the yen and signs China’s economy is improving.
“Overall the underlying sentiment is quite bullish, especially towards Chinese companies,” said Alex Wong, a Hong Kong-based director at Ample Capital Ltd. “People are still chasing China stocks as they remain bullish on sectors like insurers, securities and coal. Positive sentiment is being carried forward by the plenum.”
Chinese shares are on the cusp of a historic bull run, a research note from Jefferies Group LLC said. Comprehensive reform decisions from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plenum impressed “tremendously,” with a significance rivaling that of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) declaring the opening of China in 1978, analysts led by Christie Ju wrote in a note.
China’s leaders pledged reforms that include allowing more private investment in state-controlled industries and loosening the one-child policy, according to a CCP statement published by Xinhua news agency on Friday last week.
Details of the policy shift lifted stocks from baby product makers to insurers. The government is liberalizing its policies in an effort to bolster an economy that’s heading for its weakest annual expansion since 1999.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 7 percent this week, the biggest weekly gain since December 2011.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index advanced 2.9 percent, and the Shanghai Composite Index added 2.8 percent.
Japan’s TOPIX climbed 0.8 percent this week, as the yen fell below ￥100 against the US dollar for the first time since July. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in parliament on Friday in Tokyo that the yen was not “excessively weak.” The central bank this week maintained its unprecedented monetary policy.
Other markets in Asia declined amid concern the Fed would soon taper stimulus. Minutes of the central bank’s meeting last month released this week showed policymakers expect ongoing improvement in the labor market to “warrant trimming the pace of purchases in coming months.”
Taiwan’s TAIEX lost 0.7 percent to close at 8,116.78 this week.
Shares rebounded on Friday after losing more than 1 percent the previous day, but the gains were limited by weak turnover, dealers said.
The index rose only 0.21 percent on Friday, as turnover remained below NT$70 billion (US$2.36 billion) , said Boryi Chien (簡伯儀), an assistant manager in the research department of Cathay Securities Co (國泰證券). PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) shares opened strong on Friday, following the company’s announcement a day earlier that its founder, Stan Shih (施振榮), would take over as chairman and interim corporate president.
After surging by the maximum daily gain of 7 percent early in the session, Acer closed 5.13 percent higher at NT$16.40 and was the most traded stock on Friday.
Financial shares led the upward trend throughout the session, with the sub-index closing 1.04 percent higher.
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) benefited from reports that regulators are considering allowing insurers to use their funds to acquire stakes in overseas banks or insurance companies, surging 1.91 percent to NT$45.40.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 1.2 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index dropped 2 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI was little changed, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.9 percent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded at 13.8 times estimated earnings on Friday, compared with 16.3 on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 15.1 for the STOXX Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
In other markets on Friday:
Manila fell 0.62 percent, or 38.05 points, from Thursday to 6,084.84.
Wellington ended flat, edging down 0.36 points from Thursday to 4,818.
Mumbai also closed flat, edging down 11.66 points from Thursday to 20,217.39.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
RSS