Asian stocks rose for a fourth week as improved Australian consumer confidence and US retail sales, rising investments in China and higher commodity prices added to evidence that the global recession is easing.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, Australia’s third-largest iron ore producer, added 31 percent through the week on speculation demand for iron ore in China will rise. Rio Tinto Ltd, which gets 19 percent of its sales from China, jumped 6.5 percent. China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行), China’s second-biggest lender, advanced 8.3 percent after the central bank said lending doubled. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd soared 15 percent on its talks to build a power plant Australia.
“There is a general sense that the worst has passed,” said Matt Riordan, who helps manage about US$3.2 billion at Paradice Investment Management in Sydney. “As things recover in the US, people will start buying imported products again, and that also flows through into resources.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index gained 1.8 percent to 105.17, its highest since Sept. 26. The gauge has climbed 49 percent from a five-year low on March 9, taking valuations of its companies to the highest in more than eight months, as signs of a recovery have increased in recent weeks.
China’s central bank said new lending doubled to 664.5 billion yuan (US$97 billion) last month from 318.5 billion yuan a year earlier, adding to a credit boom that is supporting the government’s 4 trillion yuan stimulus plan.
Taiwanese share prices are expected to encounter further profit-taking pressure in the week ahead after a roller-coaster ride this week, dealers said on Friday.
Selling in bellwether electronic stocks and financial shares are likely to continue as they have been overvalued following a recent significant showing, they said.
However, commodity stocks, in particular steel and cement makers, may attract interest as investors are happy with rising international commodity prices, they added.
The bourse is expected to test the support at the 6,300-6,400 point range as dealers take to the sidelines on fears of further downside, while technical rebounds are possible, with a cap at around 6,650, dealers said.
For the week to Friday, the weighted index fell 408.51 points, or 5.96 percent, to 6,448.23 after a 0.49 percent fall a week earlier.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$133.25 billion (US$4.07 billion), compared with NT$160.90 billion a week ago.
Other regional markets on Friday:
TOKYO: Up 1.55 percent. The Nikkei-225 rose 1.55 percent or 154.49 points to 10,135.82. “The market is in a state of euphoria” as retail investors turned bullish, Chuo Securities equity head Akira Ishida told Dow Jones Newswires.
SHANGHAI: Down 1.91 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was down 53.56 points at 2,743.76. The market fell on concerns over tightening liquidity after securities regulators said they would lift a freeze on initial public offerings soon, dealers said.
SINGAPORE: Down 0.20 percent. The blue-chip Straits Times Index eased 4.74 points to 2,377.07. Dealers said the market was unaffected by overnight gains in the US.
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.11 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.19 points to 1,090.15.
BANGKOK: Up 0.24 percent. The SET composite index added 1.48 points to close at 628.55.
JAKARTA: Flat. The Jakarta Composite Index added 1.36 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,090.94.
MUMBAI: Down 1.13 percent. The 30-share SENSEX fell 173.53 points to 15,237.94. Investors unwound positions ahead of the weekend, taking profits from a three-month rally in which prices have risen nearly 90 percent, dealers said.
The navy has installed 13 Phalanx Block 1B close-in weapons systems on its warships, increasing their defensive firepower, a defense official said on Saturday. The systems cost the navy NT$10.16 billion (US$314.67 million), while eight additional Block 1A systems are being upgraded in the US and are expected to be delivered next year, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Phalanx system used by Taiwan to defend its warships and key radar installations is a radar-cued gun system capable of firing 4,500 rounds a minute at targets as far away as 1.5km, the official said. With their superior range of
FINANCIAL RECORD ISSUE: The TPP did not calculate campaign expenditures and such costs were included in the operational expenses, a party official said The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) last year raised NT$84.3 million (US$2.61 million) in donations and spent no money on campaigning, the latest Control Yuan audits on the campaign finances of Taiwanese political parties yesterday revealed. The audit report was published a day after police searched the offices of accounting firms and other companies linked to TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) presidential campaign as part of a probe into alleged corruption and false reporting of campaign finances dating back several years. Last year, the TPP raised NT$46.6 million in individual donations and NT$30.9 million from businesses while spending NT$71 million, including NT$37 million
CARROT AND STICK: Palauan president said in 2020 the Chinese ambassador to a neighboring country pledged to flood his country with tourists if it switches alliance Beijing weaponized tourism to the Pacific archipelago of Palau over its allegiance to Taiwan and its accusations that China was behind a major cyberattack there, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr told The Associated Press (AP). Palau, along with Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, is one of the three Pacific nations to recognize Taiwan as an independent democracy. Taipei’s allies in the Pacific have dwindled from six countries in 2019. Nauru abandoned its ties in January. Whipps told the AP in an interview late on Thursday that, in 2020, while he was running for his current post, the Chinese ambassador to a neighboring country
ACCOUNTABILITY? Vivian Huang resigned as a TPP Central Standing Committee member, while an accountancy denied it was to blame for campaign finance errors Prosecutors yesterday searched offices of accounting firms and other companies linked to Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) presidential campaign amid allegations of fraud, while TPP Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) resigned from the party’s Central Standing Committee. Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau personnel collected material at seven locations in and around Taipei, including at marketing firm Muko (木可行銷公關), accounting firm Jing Hua CPA (精華會計師事務所), OCT Entertainment Co (時樂) and Neo Creative Marketing Production Co (尼奧創意行銷). They also searched the residences of Tai Li-ling (戴利玲), who is registered as the owner of OCT Entertainment and Neo