Asian stocks fell this week, dragging down the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index by the most since February last year, after US jobless claims unexpectedly rose and concern grew that Europe will fail to stop its debt crisis from spreading.
Honda Motor Co, a Japanese carmaker that gets about 80 percent of its sales overseas, sank 6.4 percent in Tokyo. Esprit Holdings Ltd, a clothier that earns 85 percent of its revenue in Europe, slid 8.9 percent in Hong Kong. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, slumped 9.1 percent in Sydney as oil and metal prices fell. Sonic Healthcare Ltd tumbled 23 percent in Sydney after cutting its profit forecast.
“A combination of events has made investors reassess the outlook for the global economy,” said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment-markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which holds about US$138 billion. “There’s clearly been a major reduction in risk appetite globally and it’s difficult to see the situation stabilizing in the near term.”
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index slipped 6.7 percent to 111.98 this week, its lowest close since August last year. The index has fallen about 13 percent from a 20-month high on April 15, as Europe’s debt crisis and concern China will quell inflation eroded confidence in the global economic recovery.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index, which entered a bear market last week as China increased steps to cool its property market, sank 4.2 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 3 percent in a holiday-shortened week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 6.5 percent as Japan’s finance minister warned about continuing deflation.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index’s slump since last month erased its advance for this year, leading to a drop of about 7 percent this year.
That cut the average price of its stock to 14 times estimated earnings yesterday, the lowest level since January.
“This eurozone saga is turning into a bad horror movie,” Phillip Securities economist Joshua Tan told Dow Jones Newswires. “You think the monster is dead but it keeps coming back.”
Other markets on Friday:
Singapore ended down 1.90 percent, or 52.31 points, from Thursday at 2,701.20.
Manila closed 1.07 percent, or 34.44 points, lower from Thursday at 3,179.36.
Wellington dived 1.97 percent, or 61.34 points, from Thursday to close at 3,050.08.
The market is at its lowest level since Aug. 21 last year.
Bangkok was closed for a second straight day on Friday as the Thai capital clears up after deadly clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces earlier in the week.
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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