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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tokyo, Seoul stock markets lead rally; Wall Street gains

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HONG KONG”•Tokyo and Seoul led a rally in Asian shares Wednesday, on the back of strong earnings reports across the region including tech giants Sony and Samsung.

The buying, after a muted start to the week in Asia, tracked overnight gains on Wall Street that saw the Nasdaq close at a fresh record. 

Along with solid US economic data and growing expectation that a centrist, continuity candidate will take over at the US Federal Reserve, the outlook for global growth remained broadly positive.

Asia has witnessed an impressive profit reporting season so far, with Sony the latest electronics blue-chip company to announce it was expecting record annual profits.

Sony stocks surged 11.4 percent, with strong results attributed to its PlayStation games division and a booming smartphone parts business, as well as a hit with the newest Spider-Man movie.

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Honda also revved up its annual profit outlook on motorcycle purchases, while a fall in Nissan passenger car sales after an inspection scandal appeared to have already been priced in by investors.

Tokyo finished at a fresh 21-year high, trading up 1.9 percent, as firms benefited from a weak yen making their products more competitive in foreign markets and inflating repatriated profits.

The announcement from Japan’s central bank Tuesday that it would keep its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged, even though overseas counterparts have started turning off the stimulus taps, also contributed.

Seoul shrugged off data showing October exports rising by less than expected, with shares up 1.3 percent, led by Samsung. The flagship tech firm logged a record profit of $10.0 billion for the third quarter.

Hong Kong was trading up 0.9 percent, with the latest evidence of the city’s equity rally coming from internet giant Tencent’s e-book arm. The country’s answer to Amazon’s Kindle Store, China Literature has reportedly raised US$1.1 billion for a Hong Kong listing next week. AFP

Shanghai had edged up 0.1 percent, as new numbers showed Chinese factory activity stabilised in October, going some way to dispel the gloom of yesterday’s official reading which suggested output growth had slowed.

Sydney also finished up, gaining 0.5 percent after a strong showing from miners and healthcare stocks.

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