Most Asian stocks fell, sending the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index to its third weekly decline in four as a slump in US housing sales triggered concern growth in the world’s biggest economy is faltering.
James Hardie Industries SE, the biggest seller of home siding in the US, declined 2.4 percent in Sydney. Canon Inc, which got about 28 percent of sales in the Americas last year, dropped 6.6 percent in Tokyo. Elpida Memory Inc, the world’s third-biggest maker of computer memory chips, and Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world’s second-biggest market of semiconductor equipment, slumped following brokerage downgrades.
“People are somewhat circumspect about the prospects for global growth,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about US$1.1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd in Melbourne.
“Doubts about how strong the US recovery is and its trajectory, particularly for the second half of 2010, have increased,” he said.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index dropped 0.5 percent. It has lost 4 percent this year on concern Greece and other European countries will struggle to curb their budget deficits and repay debt.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 3.1 percent, the most among major benchmark indexes in the Asia-Pacific region, as Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia’s biggest investment bank, declined 11 percent after saying increasingly uncertain markets are weighing on some parts of its business.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 2.6 percent as exporters dropped after the yen strengthened for a third week.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2 percent, bucking the regional decline, after the People’s Bank of China signaled an end to the currency’s two-year-old peg to the dollar one week before a G20 Summit.
Taiwan’s TAIEX index declined 1.5 percent, or 115.18, on Friday to close at 7,474.71, after the central bank on Thursday unexpectedly raised interest rates for the first time since 2008 and told lenders to cap home loans. The index dropped 18.4 points this week.
Taiwanese property stocks declined, with the 35-member construction sub-index dropping 3.7 percent, the most since April 19. Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設), the nation’s biggest property developer by market value, slid 4.8 percent to NT$63, the most since April 19. Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設), the second-largest developer, fell 2.1 percent to NT$11.55, the lowest since June 18.
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) climbed 4.9 percent to NT$14.05, the most since June 24 last year, after the nation’s financial regulator approved its application to set up a branch in Kunshan, China.
Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技), a maker of computer-memory chips, lost 1.6 percent to NT$4.26 after its board approved plans to sell between 650 million and 800 million new shares locally and overseas, according to its stock exchange filing on Thursday.
Other markets on Friday:
Manila ended 0.55 percent, or 18.49 points, higher from Thursday at 3,352.46.
Wellington slipped 0.50 percent, or 15.36 points, from Thursday to 3,034.11.
Mumbai fell 0.88 percent, or 155.71 points, from Thursday to 17,574.53.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’