Asian shares mostly higher as Wall St rebounds
Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in positive territory; European markets were also quoting in the green; Wall Street ended with gains on Friday
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Taiwan led the advance, with heavy buying of computer chip-related shares pushing the Taiex up 1.3% to a fresh record. MediaTek, a semiconductor company that provides chips for jumped 8.4%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. logged a more modest 0.5% gain
Washington: Asian shares were mostly higher on Monday after US stocks bounced back from Wall Street’s worst day since April to finish higher for the week. US futures slipped, while oil prices advanced. Tokyo’s Nikkei-225 added 0.3 per cent to 38,758.96 and the Kospi in Seoul jumped 0.7 per cent to 2,705.87. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.7 per cent to 2,705.87 and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3 per cent to 3,097.86 as the government reported corporate profits rose 4.3 per cent year-on-year in April. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.2 per cent to 18,576.65.
Taiwan led the advance, with heavy buying of computer chip-related shares pushing the Taiex up 1.3 per cent to a fresh record. MediaTek, a semiconductor company that provides chips for wireless communications, high-definition television and handheld mobile device jumped 8.4 per cent. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. logged a more modest 0.5 per cent gain. “The robust global semiconductor cycle is positive for Taiwan’s growth outlook,” Raymond Yeung and Bansi Madhavani of ANZ wrote in a research note. “The global semiconductor cycle is strong thanks to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence applications, cloud computing and 5G telecommunications technology,” it said.
On Friday, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 5,304.72 and won back all its losses from the prior two days. It eked out a tiny gain for the week, extending its weekly winning streak to five, and is sitting just below its record set on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1 per cent to 39,069.59, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1 per cent, to 16,920.79, topping an all-time high set earlier in the week.
