Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for its biggest weekly advance since December 2011, as US shares rallied after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting indicated the central bank will not rush to raise interest rates.
Santos Ltd jumped 8.6 percent in Sydney, leading gains among the region’s energy producers, as oil climbed above US$50 a barrel for the first time since July. Noble Group Ltd surged 16 percent in Singapore as the commodities trader was said to be overhauling its metals unit after vowing to focus on delivering immediate results.
Fast Retailing Co slumped 9.8 percent in Tokyo after the clothier’s earnings and forecasts missed analyst estimates.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.7 percent to 133.39 as of 4:01pm in Hong Kong, poised for a 5.6 percent rally this week.
While Fed officials said the US economy continued to improve, the committee decided to wait for additional data confirming the outlook for growth, the minutes showed. Officials cited growing risks, mainly from China, while saying they were on track to increase rates this year.
Odds of a Fed liftoff this year have fallen below 50 percent, futures data show, after a weaker-than-expected US jobs report last week.
“This looks like a sustainable turnaround,” Sydney-based CMC Markets PLC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said by telephone. “Investors have become less pessimistic. Things are definitely not in a strong economic environment, but there is an expectation of further central bank support.”
Japan’s TOPIX added 2.3 percent. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 1.3 percent. Singapore’s Straits Time Index climbed 1.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 percent. Markets in South Korea and Taiwan were closed for holidays on Friday.
The Shanghai Composite Index increased 1.3 percent after investors speculated the government will take more steps to boost the economy. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in Hong Kong advanced 1.2 percent.
The rebound in Chinese stocks in Hong Kong has room to run, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co sales trader and chartered market technician Ayush Nagaraj said.
E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.2 percent. The underlying equity measure advanced 0.9 percent on Thursday as commodity shares rallied.
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
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
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
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