Asian stocks were little changed this week, with a regional benchmark index easing off a three-week high after gauges showed growth slowing in Chinese manufacturing and as Thai shares dropped amid prolonged political unrest.
China Coal Energy Co (中煤能源), the nation’s No. 2 producer of the fuel, fell 7.4 percent in Hong Kong, while Siam Commercial Bank PCL tumbled 7.7 percent, dragging Thailand’s SET Index 5.7 percent lower amid concern that the instability will spur capital outflows in Southeast Asia’s No. 2 economy.
Among the week’s winners were Newcrest Mining Ltd, which rose 11 percent in Sydney to lead gold producers higher as the precious metal rebounded from its worst year since 1981.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index — excluding Japan — slipped to 140.31 from 140.33 a week earlier. Japanese markets were closed for four days this week and most markets were shut on Wednesday for the New Year holiday.
Global equities added about US$9.6 trillion last year as central bank quantitative easing helped the US economy gain momentum and Europe recover from recession.
The MSCI Asia Pacific ended last year at a three-week high and traded at 11.8 times forward earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with a multiple of 15.3 on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
In Taipei, the TAIEX gained 0.1 percent to finish the week at 8,546.54 compared with 8,535.04 on Dec. 27. The bourse lost 0.77 percent, or 66 points, on Friday after foreign institutional investors served as net sellers of NT$2.46 billion (US$81.89 million) in local shares to send the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange down at the close, dealers said.
Elsewhere in the region this week, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.9 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 2.8 percent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.5 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.8 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.6 percent as the city-state’s economy shrank for the first time in five quarters after its manufacturing and services industries weakened, while India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index also stumbled, falling 1.6 percent as a decline in a manufacturing gauge sparked concerns about growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.
A purchasing managers’ index released by HSBC Holdings PLC and Markit Economics for India fell to 50.7 last month from November’s 51.3. The Reserve Bank of India raised its key interest rate twice last year to rein in the region’s fastest consumer price gains.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.7 percent on Monday to cap a 57 percent advance for last year, its best annual performance since 1972. That was the biggest gain among 24 developed markets tracked by Bloomberg last year.
Meanwhile, the yen posted its steepest annual drop since 1979. Stocks surged and the yen weakened as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda took steps to end 15 years of deflation.
China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 51 last month from 51.4 in November, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics and the nation’s logistics federation said, trailing the median forecast of 51.2 — a reading above 50 indicates expansion.
A manufacturing purchasing managers’ index gauge from HSBC Holdings PLC and Markit Economics slipped to 50.5 last month from 50.8 in November — in line with the median of 17 estimates compiled by Bloomberg — while a separate gauge of China’s non-manufacturing sector fell to a four-month low.
In other markets on Friday:
Wellington closed up 0.68 percent, or 32.03 points, from Thursday to close at 4,769.04.
Manila fell 0.61 percent, or 36.33 points, to finish on 5,947.93.
Mumbai lost 0.12 percent or 25.75 points to end with 20,862.58.
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Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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