Most Asian stocks rose, led by Chinese shares trading in Hong Kong, as investors awaited a monthly government report on US jobs to gauge the strength of the world’s largest economy.
Great Wall Motor Co (長城汽車) surged 13 percent in Hong Kong to a two-month high as carmakers and developers climbed after China cut mortgage requirements and passenger-vehicle tax. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd (銀河娛樂集團) jumped 10 percent after a report the government may unveil measures to support Macau tourism. Westpac Banking Corp lost 2.1 percent as Australia’s largest lenders dragged on the regional equities gauge.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 percent to 126 as of 4:14pm in Hong Kong. The gauge touched a three-year low this week.
The regional benchmark index was on course to rise 0.8 percent this week, with mainland Chinese markets currently shut for a week-long holiday.
Japan’s TOPIX gained 0.2 percent amid low trading volume, with rubber and paper producers climbing.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3.2 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland firms listed in the city advanced 3 percent as trading resumed after a holiday and the government stepped up targeted support for the economy. China Resources Land Ltd (華潤置地) jumped 8.7 percent after the People’s Bank of China reduced the minimum home down payment for first-time buyers.
The TAIEX rose 0.11 percent to 8,305.03 on Friday.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.4 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI retreated 0.5 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index sank 1.2 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.1 percent. Markets in India are closed for a holiday.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.3 percent. The underlying gauge rose 0.2 percent in New York on Thursday, reversing a drop of as much as 1 percent.
US manufacturing barely grew last month. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 50.2, the weakest since May 2013, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said on Thursday.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
COLLABORATION: The operations center shows the close partnership between Taiwan and Japan in the field of semiconductors, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Tokyo Electron Ltd, Asia’s biggest semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched a NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) operations center in Tainan as it aims to expand capacity and meet growing demand. Its new Taiwan Operations Center is expected to help customers release their products faster, boost production efficiency and shorten equipment repair time in a cost-effective way, the company said. The center is about a five-minute drive from the factories of its major customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer fabs. The operations center would have about 1,000 employees when it is fully utilized, the company
RSS