Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after stocks pulled back from their recent record highs on Wall Street as bond yields fell and investors turned cautious. Benchmarks fell in Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Shanghai, but rose in Hong Kong.
US futures were higher and the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to 1.33 percent. On Thursday it fell to 1.30 percent, its lowest level since February. It recently was trading at 1.74 percent.
Traders have been shifting money into bonds in the past few weeks, pulling down the benchmark yield, which is used to set rates on mortgages and many other kinds of loans.
The TAIEX on Friday fell 1.15 percent to 17,661.48 points, down 0.3 percent for the week.
South Korea’s KOSPI on Friday declined 1.1 percent to 3,217.95, bringing its weekly loss to 1.9 percent.
Investors are gauging the potential impact from COVID-19 variants stymying a resurgence in commerce and travel. In South Korea and Japan, authorities have tightened pandemic precautions to counter fresh outbreaks of COVID-19.
Fans also have been banned from the Tokyo Olympics, which begin later this month, amid a state of emergency aimed at containing rising infections in the capital.
Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 on Friday gave up 0.9 percent to 7,273.30, down 0.5 percent weekly.
The Shanghai Composite Index on Friday edged less than 0.1 percent lower to 3,524.09, but still eked out a 0.15 percent weekly gain.
India’s SENSEX on Friday lost 0.35 percent to 52,386.19, losing 0.2 percent for the week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.7 percent to 27,344.54, but was down 3.4 percent for the week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 pared losses that had pushed it toward a correction following the country’s decision to declare another state of emergency in Tokyo to contain the continued virus spread.
The blue-chip measure fell 0.6 percent at the 3pm close in Tokyo, after sliding as much as 2.5 percent and briefly extending its drop from a February peak to more than 10 percent.
The broader TOPIX was 5 percent below its March high. It fell 0.4 percent on Friday, bringing its weekly loss to 2.3 percent
“Stocks were oversold a bit,” Resona Asset Management chief strategist Mamoru Shimode said. “On technicals, the Nikkei 225 touched its 200-day moving average, so we’re at a phase where you’ve got to see some rebound.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS