Asian stock markets on Friday followed Wall Street lower on fears that global economic activity would be depressed by interest rate hikes to cool inflation.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled 3.3 percent on Thursday after the UK’s central bank followed the US Federal Reserve in raising its key interest rate to cool surging prices.
Investors worry the moves to control inflation that is running at four-decade highs might tip the US and other major economies into recession.
“Pain is being inflicted almost everywhere and sharing doesn’t make it better in any way,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said in a report.
Markets were not assuaged by comments by US President Joe Biden to the Associated Press on Thursday that he saw reasons for optimism about the economy.
A recession is “not inevitable,” Biden said.
In Taiwan, the TAIEX closed 1.25 percent lower at 15,641.26. The day’s low of 15,573.38 was its lowest intraday level since May 17 last year, when it hit 15,159.86.
The index fell more than 1 percent in the first minute of trading following a 2.42 percent plunge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 6.24 percent fall in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight, and never recovered.
However, turnover was up compared with recent sessions at NT$307.877 billion (US$10.36 billion), after staying between NT$190 billion and NT$230 billion for much of the month.
For the week, the TAIEX lost 818 points, or 4.97 percent. It had closed lower for seven consecutive sessions.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.77 percent to 25,963.00, down 6.69 percent on the week, while the broader TOPIX lost 1.71 percent to 1,835.90, declining 5.52 percent from a week earlier.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.96 percent to 3,316.79, up 0.97 percent weekly, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1.1 percent to 21,075.00, but dropped 3.35 percent from a week earlier.
In Seoul, the KOSPI retreated 0.43 percent to 2,440.93 and lost 5.97 percent weekly, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.76 percent to 6,474.8, posting a weekly drop of 6.6 percent.
India’s SENSEX closed 0.26 lower at 51,360.42, declining 5.42 percent from a week earlier.
Additional reporting by CNA, with staff writer
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS