Some Asian stocks rebounded on Friday after steep losses in the previous session as strong US economic growth and Apple Inc’s impressive earnings offset some bearishness generated by the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish comments.
US stock futures rose in Asia trade with NASDAQ futures up 0.77 percent and S&P 500 e-minis up 0.48 percent after Apple on Thursday reported record sales in the holiday quarter. Apple shares rose more than 5 percent in after-hours trading.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4 percent after sliding 2.26 percent on Thursday. The index is still down 5.1 percent so far this month.
Photo: AP
“After [a] big sell-off earlier this week amid a hawkish stance by the Fed, we are seeing several markets in Asia recover from some of the heavy losses today,” said Zhang Zihua (張子華), chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 2.09 percent to 26,717.34, but lost 2.92 percent from a week earlier. Fuji Electric surged 9.68 percent to become the Nikkei’s biggest percentage gainer, after posting strong earnings late on Thursday.
The broader TOPIX gained 1.87 percent to 1,876.89, down 2.61 percent on the week.
Seoul’s KOSPI increased 1.87 percent to 2,663.34, losing 6.03 percent from a week earlier, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 2.19 percent to 6,988.1, down 2.62 percent on the week.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell on Friday, capping off its worst week since August last year amid global investor jitters sparked by rising expectations of monetary tightening by the Fed.
At the close of trade, the Hang Seng was down 56.92 points, or 1.08 percent, at 23,550.08. The index lost 5.67 percent on the week, its biggest weekly percentage drop in 23 weeks.
The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.97 percent to 3,361.44, losing 4.57 percent from a week earlier.
India’s SENSEX dipped 0.13 percent to 57,200.23, posting a weekly decline of 3.11 percent.
In Taiwan, the equity market is closed until Sunday next week, because of the Lunar New Year holiday. It last closed down 26.72 points, or 0.15 percent, at 17,674.40 on Wednesday, with turnover of NT$224.109 billion (US$8.05 billion). It declined 1.16 percent from Friday last week.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS