China’s stocks on Friday closed higher in choppy trading amid uncertainties regarding a resurgence of COVID-19, while liquidity and retail investor enthusiasm fueled the main indexes to post the biggest monthly percentage rises since February last year.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.71 percent at 3,310.01. The ended last month with a 10.9 percent rise, its biggest monthly gain since February last year, and increased 3.54 percent for the week.
The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.84 percent at 4,695.05, posting its biggest monthly gain since last February, an increase of 12.8 percent.
The financial sector sub-index increased 0.5 percent, the consumer staples sector rose 0.34 percent, the real-estate index gained 0.18 percent and the healthcare sub-index rose 1.39 percent.
The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index ended up 1.33 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite Index increased 1.887 percent.
China’s factories last month recovered at a faster pace, as improving prospects for electrical and pharmaceutical goods helped sustain a broader recovery from earlier coronavirus shutdowns, but the country’s health authority reported 127 new COVID-19 cases on the mainland on July 30, up from 105 the previous day, the highest daily increase since March 5.
Bleak US economy data, which showed that it suffered the biggest blow to GDP since the Great Depression in the second quarter, also overshadowed global recovery hopes.
In Taipei, the TAIEX ended down 58.12 points, or 0.46 percent, at 12,664.8, after moving between 12,635.71 and 12,733.48. Turnover was NT$207.84 billion (US$7.04 billion).
The index rose 2.93 percent for the week.
Elsewhere in the region, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 2.82 percent, or 629.23 points, to close at 21,710.00, extending its losing streak for a sixth trading day.
It lost 4.58 percent from Wednesday last week before a four-day holiday weekend.
The broader TOPIX also lost 2.82 percent, or 43.41 points, to 1,496.06, and dropped 4.89 percent over the week.
“Negative factors such as a strong yen and record infections in Tokyo are mounting,” said Shinichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities in Tokyo.
“Risk-averse sentiment is getting stronger, prompting investors to flee the market,” Yamamoto said.
The US dollar fetched ¥104.28 in Asian afternoon trade, against ¥104.78 in New York late on Thursday.
Tokyo’s governor confirmed a record 463 new COVID-19 infections Friday, a day after the capital asked restaurants and bars to shut earlier to help contain the outbreak.
Investors largely shrugged off Japan’s key economic indicators released earlier in the day, brokers said.
Japan’s jobless rate in June stood at 2.8 percent, falling by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, the first improvement in the past seven months, official figures issued by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed.
Hong Kong shares ended lower, as a resurgence in COVID-19 infections and likely delay in local elections countered optimism over faster recovery in Chinese factories and strong US tech earnings.
At the close of trade, the Hang Seng Index was down 115.24 points or 0.47 percent at 24,595.35. It was down 0.45 percent for the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI declined 0.78 percent to 2,249.37, but increased 2.22 percent for the week.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with AFP and CNA
RECORD BUDGET: TSMC does plan to raise its proposed capital expenditure a lot, and could benefit if Intel outsources more of its production to foundries, analysts said Intel Corp’s earnings conference call on Thursday is expected to clarify the US semiconductor giant’s outsourcing production plans, which would be crucial regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) performance, analysts said. “TSMC stands to benefit if Intel outsources more of its fabrication to foundries,” SinoPac Securities Investment Service Corp (永豐投顧) analysts said in a note on Friday. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) was more cautious, saying that Intel’s contribution initially would be limited, but its outsourcing plans would still highlight TSMC’s leadership in technology, it added. “Intel will continue to manufacture server or high-end central processing units [CPUs], which have higher
MOBILE SMART: The Dimensity 1200 is 22 percent better in terms of performance than its predecessor, and 25 percent more power-efficient, the handset chip designer said MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday unveiled its premium 5G processors — the Dimensity 1200 and Dimensity 1100 — as it vies for a larger slice of the world’s rapidly growing 5G smartphone market. Manufactured using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) 6-nanometer process technology, the Dimensity 1200 processor performs 22 percent better than the previous generation Dimensity 1000+ processor, and is 25 percent more power-efficient, MediaTek said. Chinese smartphone brands Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Realme Mobile Telecommunications (Shenzhen) Co (銳爾覓移動通信) are to be the first adopters of the latest Dimensity chips, the companies said during a virtual media briefing. Xiaomi plans to equip its first
‘BROAD RANGE’: The US Department of Commerce intends to deny a significant number of license requests for exports to Huawei, an industry association said US President Donald Trump’s administration notified Huawei Technologies Co (華為) suppliers, including chipmaker Intel Corp, that it is revoking certain licenses to sell to the Chinese company and intends to reject dozens of other applications to supply the telecommunications firm, people familiar with the matter told reporters. The action — likely the last against Huawei under Trump — is the latest in a long-running effort to weaken the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, which Washington sees as a national security threat. The notices came amid a flurry of US efforts against China in the final days of Trump’s administration. US president-elect Joe
AWARENESS NEEDED: The central bank urged lenders to know their customers before undertaking business for them and to seek funding in conventional ways The central bank yesterday said that it would take action against four foreign lenders for their involvement in helping companies trade in the deliverable forward market in contravention of foreign-exchange regulations. Some grain merchants newly based in Taiwan have since July 2019 been practicing questionable currency-trading activity, with the help of branches and subsidiaries of six foreign banks, the monetary policymaker told an unscheduled news conference. Affiliated firms as of July last year completed currency-related deals they referred to as trading that totaled US$11 billion, which was not in sync with their real business needs, the central bank said after wrapping up