Asian share prices advanced on Friday as a shock from a surprisingly strong US inflation reading ebbed, with investors hopeful that the worst price hikes could be soon over.
The TAIEX rose 0.4 percent to 17,518.13 points, bringing its weekly gain to 1.3 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.1 percent on Friday, helped by brisk earnings. The benchmark index was unchanged for the week. The TOPIX on Friday added 1.3 percent, also ending the week unchanged.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose 1.5 percent on Friday to recover from earlier losses and close the week unchanged.
Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 on Friday gained 0.8 percent, gaining 0.2 percent for the week.
India’s SENSEX on Friday rose 1.3 percent, up 1 percent weekly. The NIFTY 50 also rose by the same daily and weekly percentages.
Hong Kong shares inched higher on Friday, driven by gains in tech heavyweights, although e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) retreated after its Singles Day sales grew at the slowest pace ever.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent to 25,327.97, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.7 percent to 9,114.37.
For the week, the Hang Seng Index climbed 1.8 percent and the China Enterprises Index jumped 3.3 percent, the most in three weeks for both.
The Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 1.6 percent, with tech giants Meituan (美團) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) up 2.6 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.
Index heavyweights Meituan and Tencent shored up the Hang Seng Index, while Alibaba Group finished down 0.5 percent.
Alibaba’s Singles Day sales grew 8.5 percent, the slowest rate ever, underscoring strong regulatory and supply chain headwinds for China’s tech firms.
Shares of JD.com Inc (京東) surged 5.2 percent.
The world’s stock prices posted their biggest fall in over a month on Wednesday following a surprisingly strong reading on US inflation.
The US consumer price index rose 6.2 percent year-on-year last month, the strongest advance since November 1990.
“Inflation is obviously a risk to watch, but stock prices will face a major crash only if the Federal Reserve turns out to be completely wrong in its assessment and is forced to raise interest rates rapidly. That’s not where we are now,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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