Asian stocks rose this week, with benchmarks in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Australia having their biggest gains in at least six weeks.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc led Japanese banks to their biggest weekly rally in 13 years after a Japanese central bank survey showed business confidence climbed to a two-and-a-half-year high.
"The recovery is for real," said John Alkire, who oversees US$15 billion as chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Asset & Investment Trust Management Co, in a televised interview with Bloomberg News in Tokyo.
Advantest Corp, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics Co led gains in shares of companies that rely on the US for much of their sales. Increases in manufacturing and consumer sentiment indexes added to evidence of a pick-up in business spending in the world's largest economy.
Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc's Asia Pacific Index, which tracks more than 800 companies in 14 countries, rose 4.6 percent this week to 82.51, its highest since July 3, 2001. The banking and financial component of the MSCI Index jumped 7.6 percent this week.
A Singapore report that showed manufacturing in the city-state expanded in September at its fastest pace in 14 months and a South Korean report showing exports last month grew at their fastest pace in eight months also boosted regional markets.
The quarterly Tankan survey, Japan's most closely watched index of business confidence, increased in September to the highest since December 2000.
Mizuho, the nation's largest lender by assets, surged 33 percent to ?303,000 this week. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, Japan's second-largest bank, jumped 17 percent to ?528,000, while UFJ Holdings Inc, the fourth-largest, climbed 23 percent to ?527,000.
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc, the country's No. 3 bank by assets, rallied 22 percent to ?814,000. The lender also doubled its full-year profit forecast during the week because of lower costs related to bad loans.
"Banks are rallying on hopes of a recovery in the economy," said David Chapman, who helps manage about US$700 million in global equities at Towry Law Asia Ltd in Hong Kong.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 3.8 percent to 10,709.29, and the Topix added 4.5 percent to 1066.86, their biggest gains since the week ended Aug. 22 and Aug. 15, respectively.
Advantest, the world's biggest maker of chip testing equipment, added 3.3 percent to ?7,620.
Signs of accelerating growth in Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, prompted investors to shift their money to domestic-focused stocks on prospects they'll gain more from an economic recovery. Ito-Yokado Co, Japan's largest retailer, added 14 percent to ?4,060.
Singapore's Straits Times index rose 2.6 percent, its biggest weekly rise in six. Chartered Semiconductor, which gets about two-thirds of its sales from the US, rose 6.8 percent.
The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management said after the market closed Thursday that its key purchasing managers' index rose to 52, from 51.3 in August. A reading above 50 indicates production expanded.
Factories reported higher orders, signaling the city-state's economy may gain momentum in the months ahead.
South Korea's Kospi added 2.6 percent in the four days ended Oct. 2, its biggest weekly gain in six. The market was closed Friday for a holiday.
South Korean exports surged 24 percent from a year earlier to US$17.2 billion, the commerce ministry said in a statement Wednesday in Seoul. That's more than double August's gain and the 9.8 percent median increase forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.
Samsung Electronics, which gets about a fifth of its sales from the US, rose 5.3 percent to 408,500 won for the week. LG Electronics Inc, the nation's No. 2 electronics maker whose exports account for more than 60 percent of sales, gained 6.5 percent to 57,500 won.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1 percent for the week, its biggest weekly advance in six. BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, was the fourth biggest contributor to the rise with a gain of 1.6 percent for the week.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 2.8 percent this week to 11,608.72, its highest since May 24, 2002. HSBC Holdings Plc, the world's second-largest bank by assets, added 2.4 percent to HK$107 on optimism of economic expansion in the US and Japan.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had
STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE: The group is proposing a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, and possibly a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Nissan Motor Co shares jumped after the Financial Times reported that a high-level Japanese group has drawn up plans to seek investment from Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc to aid the struggling automaker. The group believes the electric vehicle (EV) maker is interested in acquiring Nissan’s plants in the US, the newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify. The proposal envisions a consortium of investors, with Tesla as the largest backer, but also includes the possibility of a minority investment by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to prevent a full takeover by the Apple supplier, the report said. The group is
RSS