Asian equities on Friday capped a second week of gains as Japanese stocks advanced to the highest in 21 months, with sentiment boosted by a slew of economic data that was better than expected and after US equity benchmarks closed at record highs on Thursday.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1 percent to 154.57 as of 4:18pm in Hong Kong.
The benchmark gauge has climbed 1.2 percent this week, adding on to its 1.3 percent advance the week before.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday ended up 5.62 points, or 0.06 percent, at 10,158.15 in an extra session to make up for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday last month.
The TAIEX is up 0.06 percent from last week’s 10,101.95.
Japan’s TOPIX breached the 1,600-point mark and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average surpassed 20,000 for the first time since December 2015 as the yen weakened for a second day.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc gained 4.4 percent, leading a gauge of financial shares.
Nine out of 11 industry groups in the regional benchmark climbed, while a measure of telecommunication companies was the worst performer.
In the US on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index set new closing highs as private US hiring figures and manufacturing data that beat estimates bolstered confidence in the global economy.
“With overnight markets notching new highs from the latest economic data, Asian markets could draw inspiration and find more synchronized gains into the end of the week,” said Jingyi Pan (潘婧怡), a Singapore-based market strategist for IG Asia Pte Ltd.
South Korea’s KOSPI rallied 1.2 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.9 percent.
The Asian benchmark gauge has risen 15 percent this year, driven by prospects for economic growth.
China’s official factory gauge released this week held up last month, adding to signs that the economy has maintained some of its first-quarter momentum.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Hang Seng China Enterprises indices each rose 0.4.
The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was little changed, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 0.3 percent.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 0.7 percent and Thailand’s SET Index gained 0.3 percent.
Vietnam’s VN Index retreated 0.4 percent and the Jakarta Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent.
New Zealand’s NZX and India’s SENSEX each gained 0.5 percent.
Additional reporting by CNA
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS