Asian stocks advanced this week for the first time in three weeks, led by technology companies and commodity producers on optimism the global economic recovery is strengthening.
Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) surged 23 percent in Taipei as prices for dynamic-random-access-memory chips climbed to a one-month high. Canon Inc, the world’s biggest camera maker, gained 5.6 percent in Tokyo after keeping its dividend unchanged and winning approval for a takeover. BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s largest mining company and Australia’s top oil producer, gained 4.6 percent in Sydney as prices for crude and metals increased after reports showed US consumer spending and incomes climbed.
“The recent data indicate the global economy is recovering faster than originally expected,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about US$1.6 billion at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney. “It’s too early to say whether the recovery is self-sustaining, but we should know toward the end of first quarter 2010.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose 1.7 percent to 119.56 this holiday-shortened week. Technology and materials stocks had the steepest gains among the index’s 10 industry groups.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 3.5 percent this week, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.6 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index in China gained 0.9 percent. Japan’s markets were closed on Wednesday for a holiday, and most other bourses were shut on Friday for Christmas.
The MSCI gauge has climbed 34 percent this year, set for its biggest annual gain since 2003, on signs government spending and lower interest rates are bolstering economies.
Stocks in the benchmark trade at 23 times estimated earnings, compared with 18 times for the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index in the US and 16 times for the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index in Europe.
Inotera Memories surged 23 percent to NT$25.30 in Taipei, the highest since May last year. Elpida Memory Inc, Japan’s biggest maker of memory chips, climbed 12 percent. Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world’s second-biggest maker of equipment to manufacture semiconductors, advanced 9.3 percent to ¥5,880.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to keep their upward momentum amid high liquidity next week, the last in a boom year for the nation’s share market, dealers said on Friday.
Institutional investors are likely to short-cover electronic firms after the sector’s recent consolidation, triggered by a pick-up in the global demand for high-tech products, they said.
For the week to Friday, the weighted index rose 218.96 points or 2.82 percent to 7,972.59 after a 0.53 percent fall a week earlier.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
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