Most Asian markets on Friday rose after the week’s strong gains, with traders upbeat as the chances of former US vice president Joe Biden winning the US election increased and after the US Federal Reserve indicated that it could provide further economic support.
While US President Donald Trump again accused the Democrats of committing voter fraud and his team launched a series of legal actions in various states, hopes a new stimulus package would eventually be passed were supporting sentiment.
Analysts said that Tuesday’s election was good for equities as the expected Democratic sweep of the US Congress failed to materialize, while Biden looked set to take the White House.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The market reaction to the unfolding election news suggests that financial markets would prefer to see a constrained Biden presidency,” said Paul O’Connor, head of Multi Asset at Janus Henderson Investors.
However, “the economic backdrop to this election is one of an incomplete global recovery that remains threatened by the continued spread of COVID-19 in many major economies, as well as fast-fading fiscal support measures,” he added.
A Biden presidency and Republican US Senate would likely mean Democrats would not be able to push ahead with regulatory changes and tax hikes, which observers said were both good for stocks. While lawmakers are also expected to push through a new economic rescue package, it would not likely be as big as anything from a Democratic-led US Congress, which National Australia Bank analysts said would put the onus on the Fed next year.
The US central bank provided some cheer to traders after its policy meeting on Thursday, as it pledged to do all it could to support the world’s top economy.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that more stimulus was “absolutely essential” to support the economy as the outlook was “extraordinarily uncertain,” but that other tools were available to the Fed.
“We can certainly look at new facilities” if the situation deteriorates, he told a news conference.
In Taipei, the TAIEX ended up 54.73 points, or 0.42 percent, at 12,973.53, after moving between 12,927,30, and 12,999.16. Turnover was NT$182.952 billion (US$6.34 billion).
It gained 3.4 percent over the week.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.91 percent or 219.95 points to close at 24,325.23, its highest level since November 1991. Over the week, the index rallied 5.87 percent.
The broader TOPIX closed up 0.52 percent or 8.55 points at 1,658.49, increasing 5.01 percent over the week.
Japanese indices started in negative territory, adjusting recent gains and reacting to a stronger yen against the US dollar.
“But investors later resumed bargain-hunting purchases on the backdrop of easing uncertainties over the US presidential election,” Okasan Online Securities said.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.07 percent to close at 25,712.97, rising 6.66 percent from a week earlier.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.24 percent to 3,312.16, but gained 2.72 percent for the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.11 percent to 2,416.5, increasing 6.59 percent from a week earlier, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.82 percent to 6,190.2 and rose 4.43 percent for the week.
Additional reporting by AFP and CNA, with staff writer
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
RSS