The TAIEX yesterday closed up 0.17 percent at 17,370.56, outperforming Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index for the first time in 30 years, as the local index continued to benefit from liquidity-driven rallies, analysts said.
The TAIEX bucked downturns in most Asian markets with a turnover of NT$321.715 billion (US$10.29 billion), as foreign portfolio managers raised their stakes in Taiwanese tech companies, especially firms involved in the global supply chain of artificial intelligence products, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed.
By contrast, the Hang Seng Index shed 2.08 percent, or 360.7 points, to close at 16,993.44, its lowest in five weeks, after China’s top food-delivery platform operator Meituan (美團) plunged after warning about a slowdown in demand.
Photo: CNA
Despite Hong Kong’s reputation for having a sound banking system, virtually no public debt, a strong legal system and ample foreign exchange reserves, its status as a regional financial hub has taken a hit from capital outflows amid US-China trade disputes and a slowdown in private consumption, analysts said, adding that property market corrections are weighing heavily on the territory.
Hong Kong on Nov. 10 lowered its economic growth forecast for this year to 3.2 percent, from a range of 4 to 5 percent, a sign that tough times remain amid a muted post-COVID-19-pandemic recovery.
The downward revision came even though the territory’s economy grew 4.1 percent, faster than Taiwan’s 2.32 percent over the same period.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Tuesday trimmed Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year from 1.61 percent to 1.42 percent, but expects growth to more than double to 3.35 percent next year.
Hong Kong’s government has for months tried to boost turnover and revive a torpid stock market, but to little avail.
Analysts have said that a reversal in fortunes would not be possible without a major improvement in China’s economic prospects.
The TAIEX, on the other hand, climbed to an eight-month high despite a lackluster economy this year, due mainly to its rising importance in the supply of chips and other electronics.
Foreign institutional investors yesterday increased holdings in local shares by a net NT$9.9 billion, offsetting a net sale of NT$787 million by proprietary traders, TWSE data showed.
Mutual funds bought up positions by a modest net NT$74 million, the data showed.
The steep rise in the local currency lent support to hot money inflows fueled by expectations that a technology product downcycle is coming to an end.
The New Taiwan dollar has gained 3.6 percent this month against the US dollar, the central bank said, after the US Federal Reserve left its policy rates unchanged in September and last month.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS