Asian stocks posted a fifth weekly gain, as material and energy companies climbed after oil topped US$40 a barrel. Japanese shares slid after the yen jumped against the US dollar.
Equity gauges in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore gained on Friday, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed. However, the regional gauge rose 1.7 percent to 128.86 from Friday last week, marking its longest streak of weekly advances since July 2014.
China stocks posted their steepest weekly gain since November, while Manila’s benchmark index entered a bull market. Japan’s TOPIX fell 1 percent after the yen rose more than 1 percent against the US dollar on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve cut forecasts for interest-rate increases.
The Fed “has provided a strong boost for commodities,” Niv Dagan, executive director at Peak Asset Management LLC in Melbourne, said by phone. “The fact that US interest rates won’t rise any time soon — and we’ve seen the ECB [European Central Bank] announce additional stimulus and the Bank of Japan moving to negative interest rates — does provide that additional confidence to the market.”
A comeback since mid-February by commodity producers and financial shares has trimmed the regional equity gauge’s drop for this year to 2.4 percent. Oil’s more than 50 percent recovery from an almost 13-year low just five weeks ago has underpinned a revival in risk assets following a volatile start to the year for global markets.
In Taipei, the TAIEX closed above the 8,800-point mark on Friday as foreign institutional investors continued to move funds into Taiwan following the Fed’s decision to scale back rate hikes, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 0.87 percent for the day and 1.2 percent for the week at 8,810.71.
Buying focused on large-cap stocks, with select electronics heavyweights such as the world’s largest contract electronics maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) attracting more visible interest, dealers said.
Petrochemical and other raw material stocks benefited from a rebound in international crude oil prices overnight, helping to push the broader market even higher at the close, dealers said.
Among the gainers, Hon Hai rose 1.82 percent to NT$84, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) advanced 0.63 percent to NT$159.50 and MediaTek climbed 2.18 percent to NT$258.
In the petrochemical sector, Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) rose 1.9 percent to NT$80.50, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) finished 2.44 percent higher at NT$67.10.
Southeast Asian stocks are bouncing back from a bear market, outpacing global indices as foreign investors pour in amid recovering economies.
The MSCI South East Asia Index is up almost 20 percent from a closing low on Jan. 21. Equities in the Philippines jumped 1.3 percent, sending them 20 percent above a January low.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.3 percent as Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1 percent and BHP Billiton Ltd surged 4.7 percent. Rio Tinto Group, which on Thursday said Jean-Sebastien Jacques would take over as CEO, added 1 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.2 percent. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.8 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.6 percent and India’s S&P BSE SENSEX Index rose 0.2 percent.
The Hang Seng Index added 0.8 percent. Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) advanced 3.7 percent after Asia’s biggest Internet company posted a 22 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit as it increased spending on content to draw users to its new smartphone games and drive ads on social networks.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.7 percent to bring its weekly gain to 5.2 percent, after a recovery in the nation’s property market accelerated, the yuan strengthened and small-company shares rallied amid easing concern about oversupply of equities.
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