Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday after Wall Street sank on worries about the health of US banks under pressure from interest rate hikes.
Taiwan and Sydney advanced, while Shanghai declined.
Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed because of holidays.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.7 percent on Thursday as investors worried about the health of banks following three high-profile failures in the US and one in Switzerland.
Shares of PacWest Bancorp, a target of investor scrutiny, tumbled 50.6 percent.
The bank said that it was considering options and has been approached by potential partners and investors.
Investors are watching what steps authorities might take to “limit further contagion risks,” IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong (葉俊榮) said in a report. “Any inaction over the weekend could translate to a more downbeat risk environment to start next week.”
In Taipei, the TAIEX closed up 17.04 points, or 0.11 percent, at 15,626.07, increasing 0.3 percent from a week earlier.
Turnover totaled NT$180.935 billion (US$5.9 billion).
The Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.48 percent to 3,334.50, but posted a weekly gain of 0.34 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 20,049.3, up 0.78 percent weekly.
Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.37 percent to 7,220.0, dropping 1.22 percent from a week earlier, while India’s SENSEX closed down 1.13 percent at 61,054.29 and lost 0.1 percent over the week.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS