Stocks on Friday were mixed in Asia after broad gains lifted several major indices to all-time highs on Wall Street.
Taiwan’s TAIEX rose 0.47 percent, while Hong Kong declined, but the Shanghai Composite Index recovered from early losses.
US markets on Thursday surged after US President Joe Biden signed into law a sweeping COVID-19 pandemic relief package that would provide US$1,400 checks for most Americans and direct billions of US dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses affected by pandemic-related shutdowns, which began a year ago.
Photo: Reuters
That and progress in vaccinations against COVID-19 have helped settle some of the uncertainty that has roiled markets in teh past few weeks.
“With regular service resumed, we can expect markets globally to end the week on a positive note,” Oanda Asia Pacific Pte senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
However, a calming of worries over inflation, eased by a lower-than-expected US consumer price reading for last month, is likely temporary, he said.
“The inflation genie may have been put back into its bottle for the weekend, but someone is sure to pick it up and uncork it again soon,” Halley said.
In Taiwan, the TAIEX ended up 75.62 points, or 0.47 percent, at 16,255.18, increasing 2.52 percent from a week earlier. Turnover totaled NT$297.962 billion (US$10.57 billion).
In Japan, the TOPIX gained 1.36 percent to 1,951.06, while the Nikkei 225 increased 1.73 percent to 29,717.83.
Both indices rose from a week earlier by 2.89 percent and 2.96 percent respectively.
South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 1.35 percent to 3,054.39, rising 0.93 percent from a week earlier, while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.79 percent to 6,766.8, but posted a weekly decline of 0.59 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 2.2 percent to 28,739.72 and dropped 1.23 percent from a week earlier, weighed down by weakness in tech firms on worries about the Sino-US tensions.
The US on Thursday condemned Chinese moves to change Hong Kong’s electoral system and forecast “difficult” talks with Beijing’s top diplomats next week.
The Shanghai Composite index gained 0.47 percent to 3,453.08, but lost 1.4 percent from a week earlier.
Additional reporting by Reuters and CNA, with staff writer
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