Asian Markets Advance, Property Woes Drag China Indexes, DPP Wins Taiwan Presidential Election

Arjun Pandit
15 Jan, 2024
Mumbai

In Asia, Tokyo stock markets hovered near a 34-year high, and the Taiwan Weighted Index advanced 0.4% after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election for the third consecutive time.

William Lai Ching-te won the presidential election on Saturday by winning 40%, or 5.59 million votes, but neither of the three contesting parties won an outright majority in the Legislative Yuan or the governing parliament.

The DPP lost its majority in the 113-member legislative body to 51 seats from 61, and the rival KMT increased its tally by 14 to 52 seats.

Elsewhere in the region, the Hang Seng Index decreased 0.6% to 16,190.59 and the CSI 300 index dropped 0.2% to 3,278.51 after the People's Bank of China held its rates  steady and dashed the hopes of a surprise rate cut.

The central bank held its one-year policy rate on medium-term lending facilities at 2.5%, and the central bank injected 216 billion yuan into the financial system via the facility.

Logan Group in Hong Kong traded up 5.5% to HK$0.63 after the struggling developer pledged to cut its total debt load by $3 billion and speed up its debt repayment plan.

Some key creditors agreed to the company's plan to repay offshore debt and a shareholder loan of $8 billion through cash and new securities over a nine-year period.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index increased 1% to 35,930.42, and in Seoul trading, the KOSPI index declined 0.2% to 35,930.42.

Tech stocks led the gainers in Tokyo trading on the receding hopes of a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

 

India Stocks Advanced On Earnings Optimism, Retail Inflation Accelerated

Stocks in Mumbai looked up after a week of volatile trading amid rising tensions in the Red Sea, and investors reviewed the latest update on inflation and industrial production data.

Consumer price inflation in December accelerated to 5.69%, following 5.55% in October, the statistical agency reported late Friday.

The rise in inflation was driven by elevated food prices following unseasonal rain in several parts of the nation, disrupting food supplies.

Despite the rise, inflation still stayed within the 2%–6% range preferred by the Reserve Bank.

Industrial production plunged to an increase of 2.4% in November from the revised 11.6% rise in October, the statistical agency announced in a separate report on Friday.

The growth in activities in manufacturing, mining, and electricity generation dropped sharply in the month.

The growth in manufacturing activities plunged to 1.2% from 6.7%, mining slowed to 6.8% from 9.7%, and electricity declined to 5.8% from 12.7% in the month a year ago.

 

India Indexes and Yields

The Sensex index increased 532.73 points to 73,100.68, and the Nifty index rose 140.25 points to 22,034.90.

On the Mumbai stock exchange, 459 stocks traded at their 52-week highs and 12 stocks traded at their 52-week lows.

The yield on the 10-year Indian government bonds edged up 7.17%, and the Indian rupee edged lower to ₹82.83 against the U.S. dollar.

The gold price increased by 0.4% to ₹62,591 per ten grams, and silver rose by 0.4% to ₹72,770 per kilo.

Crude oil increased by 0.2% to ₹6,204 per barrel, and natural gas fell by 0.7% to ₹263.60 per thermal unit.