Asian stocks declined, extending their weekly loss, after the Bank of Japan quashed expectations for further stimulus and earnings from PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣股份有限公司) to China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec, 中國石油化工) disappointed investors.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index retreated 0.6 percent to 415.68 as of 4:19pm in Hong Kong, heading for a weekly loss of 1.9 percent and a 0.3 percent monthly decline. Stocks retreated this week as Japan’s central bank refrained from boosting monetary stimulus and earnings at companies from Canon Inc to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (華僑銀行) left investors unsatisfied. Focus now turns to profit reports due from Citic Securities Co (中信證券), China’s biggest brokerage, and Chinese manufacturing data due at the weekend. Japan’s market was closed on Friday for a holiday.
“Central banks look like they have run out of bullets to a degree,” Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners in Wellington, said by phone. “We’re getting to that point where there are limits to the results they can get from anything more they do. This points to a fragile outlook with still a lot of risks out there.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index, the regional equities gauge which includes Japan, is down 1.5 percent this week. Still, it is up 1.7 percent this month, on course for the first back-to-back monthly advance since April last year.
In Taipei, the TAIEX slid 1.1 percent to 8,377.90 on Friday as investors took their cues from steep declines on Wall Street overnight to unload large-cap stocks, dealers said. The index fell 1.9 percent from the previous week.
Led by contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the electronics sector moved sharply lower, while “Apple concept stocks” encountered headwinds after Apple Inc shares tumbled overnight on disappointing results, they said.
“Investors were simply stunned by a dive on Wall Street overnight and afraid of more losses in the US market down the road so they rushed to dump their holdings, sending the local weighted index into a tailspin,” Ta Ching Securities (大慶證券) analyst Andy Hsu (許博傑) said.
“Despite the plunge in the index, turnover remained moderate, indicating many investors remained reluctant to buy at lows and hold stocks ahead of the extended weekend,” Hsu said.
The market is closed tomorrow for the Workers’ Day holiday.
TSMC fell 1.96 percent to close at NT$150, following a 2.24 decline on Thursday.
Among Apple concept stocks, iPhone and iPad assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) fell 1.91 percent to close at NT$77.10, and Catcher Technology Co (可成), a metal casing supplier, slid 2.16 percent to NT$227.
Camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) bucked the trend, closing up 1.34 percent at NT$2,270 on late-session buying.
The financial sub-index closed up 0.19 percent at 935.06, with Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) gaining 1.03 percent to end at NT$39.25, and E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) rising 0.56 percent to close at NT$17.90.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index declined 1.5 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland stocks slipped 1.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent. China raised its daily yuan fixing rate against the US dollar by the most since July 2005.
An official purchasing managers’ index probably rose to 50.3 last month from 50.2 in March, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The data are scheduled to be released today. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.5 percent, while New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.5 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.3 percent as industrial output unexpectedly declined in March. Singapore’s Straits Times Index retreated 0.8 percent. India’s S&P BSE SENSEX slid 0.6 percent in a second day of losses.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS