Asian shares rose last week, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a five-month high, as forecasts from Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Intel Corp boosted finance and technology companies.
Commonwealth Bank, the nation’s biggest lender, jumped 2.3 percent in Sydney after saying first-half unaudited cash profit rose.
Hynix Semiconductor Inc climbed 2.6 percent in Seoul as Intel forecast first-quarter sales that beat analyst estimates.
JFE Holdings Inc, Japan’s second-largest steelmaker by market value, fell 3.4 percent on speculation it may have to pay more for iron ore.
Cnooc Ltd, China’s largest offshore oil producer, sank 1.1 percent as crude fell for a fifth day.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 126.95 at 5:50pm in Tokyo, its highest level since Aug. 12.
The measure rose 2.2 percent in the previous five days. The gauge surged 53 percent in the past year on signs of recovery in the region’s economies.
“The good news is still flowing through, but some of it is looking a bit more mixed,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy in Sydney at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees about US$90 billion globally.
“Investors are feeling a bit cautious,” he said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index climbed 1 percent.
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co surged 15 percent in Seoul after Posco’s chief executive officer said he would consider a bid for the shipbuilder.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was set for its fourth weekly advance as reports last week of a bigger-than-expected increase in Australian jobs, a surge in Chinese exports and Japanese machine-tool orders boosted confidence in the strength of the global economy.
The gauge has climbed 80 percent from its lowest level in more than five years on March 9, outpacing gains of 70 percent by the S&P 500 and 64 percent for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.
Stocks in the MSCI measure are valued at 20 times estimated earnings, compared with 15 times for the S&P and 13 times for the Stoxx 600.
Hong Kong fell 0.29 percent, or 62.79 points, to 21,654.16.
TAIPEI
The TAIEX index climbed 66.91, or 0.8 percent, to close at 8,356.89, the highest since June 2008.
The index rose 0.9 percent this week, the fourth straight weekly gain.
Other regional markets:
KUALA MUMPUR: Malaysian shares were up 0.30 percent, or 3.87 points, at 1,298.58.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares were flat, rising 1.91 points to 2,647.09.
MANILA: Philippine shares lost 0.11 percent, or 3.44 points, to 3,118.47 on profit-taking.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares fell 0.62 percent, or 20.38 points, to 3,257.95.
MUMBAI: Indian shares eased 0.17 percent, or 30.57 points, to 17,554.30.
Dealers unwound stocks ahead of the weekend, on growing concerns the central bank could tighten monetary policy to curb inflation.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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