Most Asian stock markets rebounded on Friday, wrapping up a turbulent week characterized by growing anxiety over a slowdown in the US economy and fallout from the credit crisis there.
Those fears would likely weigh on sentiment into next week, analysts said.
But with no bad news overnight from the US due to the holiday there on Thursday, investors bid up stocks in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
PHOTO: AFP
"The market was free of bad news from the US, thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday," said Anothai Chiengtawan, an analyst with IV Global Securities in Bangkok.
In Taiwan and South Korea, however, shares fell, and Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
Hong Kong shares rebounded from two days of steep losses, lifted by property developers and oil companies.
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 2.1 percent, or 536.17 points, to 26,541.09. The index had plunged 6.5 percent the previous two days.
"The market went up today just because of a technical rebound," said Kingston Lin, associate director of Prudential Brokerage, who predicted the index would fall to 25,400 next week.
"I don't think the upside is sustainable as a possible slowdown in US economic growth will cool investor sentiment in the short term," he said.
Domestic worries also weighed on the market.
"There is no catalyst now, after the suspension of the `through-train' scheme," said Peter Lai, a director at DBS Vickers.
He was referring to a plan announced by China in August that would allow mainland Chinese to invest directly in Hong Kong stocks. Beijing appears to have put the plan on hold.
Bucking the generally bearish outlook, tycoon Lee Shau-kee, chairman of property developer Henderson Land, was reported on Friday as saying he expects the benchmark index to rebound to 30,000 points by the end of this year.
He said he has set aside HK$10 billion (US$1.2 billion) to buy stocks.
The Hang Seng property subindex rose 3.1 percent on bargain-hunting and hopes for another US interest rate cut next month, traders said.
Hong Kong banks usually follow suit when the US Federal Reserve cuts lending rates.
Sino Land jumped 6.2 percent to HK$24, Sun Hung Kai Properties rose 2.4 percent to HK$140.50 and Henderson Land gained 1.9 percent to HK$59.80.
Offshore oil producer CNOOC was the biggest gainer among China oil companies.
It rose 4.4 percent to HK$13.30 on news of two oil discoveries in the South China Sea. Sinopec advanced 2.8 percent to HK$10.32, while Petrochina ended up 1.1 percent at HK$14.28.
On the Chinese mainland, airline and other shares surged on gains in the Chinese yuan, even as broader worries over the global economy capped the advance.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 1 percent, or 47.96 points, to 5,032.13, recovering from a 4.4 percent fall on Thursday that took the index to its lowest close since Aug. 22.
Airline companies rose after the official rate for the US dollar against the yuan was set at a record low level of 7.3992.
Airlines can benefit from a stronger yuan because they often carry large amounts of foreign currency-denominated debt.
Air China gained 7.3 percent to 20.66 yuan; China Southern Airlines surged by the daily 10 percent limit to 23.44 yuan.
China Eastern Airlines ended 6.6 percent higher at 13.91 yuan.
Although China's markets remain relatively isolated, investors are reacting to wider gloom over the US economic outlook due to the fallout from so-called subprime mortgages, analysts said.
"Uncertainty over the impact of the US subprime problems will likely affect Chinese bourses, dragging the benchmark index toward 4,800," said Li Wenhui, an analyst at Huatai Securities.
In currency trading, the US dollar dropped below ¥108 to ¥107.55.
This was its lowest rate since June 2005, but it managed to regain some ground to finish the day at ¥107.82.
The euro capped a string of recent records to climb to a high of US$1.4968 before slipping back to US$1.4918.
TAIPEI
Taiwan's benchmark stock index fell to a 14-week low, pulled lower by declines in the shares of food companies and panel makers.
The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange dropped 1.9 percent to 8,342.2, its lowest close since Aug. 17.
BANGKOK
Thailand's main stock index rose 1.9 percent to 824.3 on a rebound in blue chip stocks.
JAKARTA
Indonesia's benchmark rose 0.6 percent to 2,584.3 on bargain hunting.
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 0.7 percent to 1,353.6 in thin volume.
MANILA
Philippine shares climbed marginally in trade marred by a technical glitch that kept confused investors on the sidelines.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 0.5 percent to end at 3,494.4.
SEOUL
South Korean shares declined for their seventh straight session, with the brokerage sector leading losses.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, dropped 1.5 percent to 1,772.9.
The Kospi has now lost 10 percent from Wednesday last week.
SINGAPORE
Singapore shares rose in volatile trade, likely tracking Hong Kong's rise because of the lack of direction from Wall Street. The Straits Times Index advanced 0.4 percent to 3,325.9.
SYDNEY
Holidays in the US and Japan drained interest in Australia's share market before the weekend.
Falls in BHP Billiton and major banks were offset by gains in Westfield Holdings, QBE Insurance, Woodside Petroleum, CSL and Brambles. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell just 4.1 points to 6,330.2.
WELLINGTON
New Zealand stocks rose in a session thin and lethargic due to the US Thanksgiving holiday. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 0.4 percent to 4,071.
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