Asian stocks climbed for a fifth week, the longest streak of gains since February 2007, as Japan proposed a US$154 billion stimulus package and investors speculated the global recession is abating.
Orix Corp, Japan’s largest non-bank financial company, rallied 26 percent as Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso said he envisioned a stimulus package that would create 2 million jobs.
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world’s third-biggest maker of liquid-crystal displays, climbed 12 percent as panel shipments jumped. Mazda Motor Corp, Japan’s second-largest car exporter, surged 33 percent, aided by the yen’s fall to a five-month low.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index climbed 1.5 percent this week to 87.97, the highest since Jan 12. Asian markets joined global stocks in a fifth weekly advance, lifting the MSCI benchmark from a six-year low.
“Spring has finally come to the market,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Okasan Asset Management Co, which oversees about US$9.3 billion. “We’ve seen indicators that suggest the economy is bottoming out. People’s view on the economic outlook is gradually turning optimistic and this is leading to the rebound in the equity market.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 2.5 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI index added 4.1 percent as the strengthening won eased the foreign currency debt burden of lenders, including Woori Finance Holdings Co. India’s SENSEX added 4.4 percent amid easing inflation.
China’s central bank said yesterday that its foreign exchange reserves rose 16 percent from a year earlier to US$1.95 trillion by the end of last month, but growth slowed in the first quarter as exports and foreign investment slumped.
China’s reserves, already the world’s largest, increased by US$7.7 billion in the first quarter — US$146.2 billion less than during the same period last year, the People’s Bank of China said in a notice on its Web site.
The rise compared with a fourth-quarter increase of almost US$45 billion, Xinhua reported.
Nearly half of China’s foreign exchange reserves are invested in US treasuries and notes issued by other government-affiliated agencies. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) called on the US last month to safeguard those assets as America’s largest creditor.
The reserves last month increased by US$41.7 billion — US$6.7 billion more than the same period last year.
Exports fell 17 percent last month from a year earlier, the fifth straight monthly decline, but less severe than February’s 25.7 plunge, the sharpest in a decade, the customs agency reported on Friday. It said trade “showed clear signs of improvement.”
Imports fell by 25.7 percent, widening the Chinese trade surplus to US$18.6 billion from February’s US$4.8 billion gap.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to turn volatile next week as dealers look to the US corporate earnings season, which may dictate Wall Street’s movements, dealers said on Friday.
It remains to be seen whether foreign institutional investors will continue their buying after a strong market showing this week as it seems to be time for them to adjust their portfolios, they added.
While technical hurdles may cap market upside or even pull the index down next week, high liquidity in the market is expected to prevent it from falling below 5,500 any time soon, dealers said.
Stiff technical resistance is expected at around 5,900 points.
For the week to Friday, the weighted index rose 252.33 points or 4.56 percent to 5,781.96 after a 2.58 percent increase a week earlier.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$144.05 billion (US$4.26 billion), compared with NT$122.78 billion a week ago.
“The local bourse has made eye-popping gains in the recent weeks, outperforming regional markets,” Grand Cathay Securities Corp (大華證券) analyst Allen Lin said.
Since the beginning of last month, the weighted index has risen almost 27 percent.
Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore were closed for public holidays on Friday.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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