Tech stocks rally to push Asia-Pacific markets higher
08:37, 12 November 2021
Technology stocks rallied in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday to lead markets in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia higher as investors looked past rising inflation concerns for the time being.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI saw its best day in nearly a month, rising 1.5% to emerge as the top gainer among regional markets on Friday.
Smartphone-to-memory chip maker Samsung Electronics rose 1%, internet firm Naver inched 0.5% higher, digital lender KakaoBank jumped over 5% and hit online game PUBG developer Krafton climbed 1.3% on Friday.
2022 presidential elections on the horizon
Investors in South Korea will now have an eye out for any political developments given the fact that the 2022 presidential elections is just a few months away.
“Historical experience suggests next year’s presidential election could be an inflection point, which determines the long-term direction of economic and social changes,” said Jeong Woo Park of Nomura.
“Looking at the latest constituent sentiment, major media polls suggest many voters still remain undecided, which clouds our outlook on the election result at this point,” added Kathleen Oh and Bum Ki Son of BOFA Securities.
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Evergrande stocks jump
In Hong Kong, tech stocks combined with property firms to push benchmark Hang Seng index 0.3% higher on Friday.
Shares in Evergrande surged as much as 16% to its highest since 30 September, after the debt-ridden property developer averted yet another payment default on a bond payment.
Upbeat news from the world’s most indebted property developer Evergrande whetted investor appetite for Chinese real estate stocks as the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index rose 1% on Friday.
Japan stocks extend gains
Japan stocks extended gains on Friday as benchmark Nikkei 225 index saw its best day in nearly two weeks, up 1.1%.
Tech investor SoftBank Group rose 2.5% to close at its highest in nearly two months on Friday. Semiconductor-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron and Advantest advanced 2% and 0.9%, respectively.
Technology conglomerate Rakuten Group bucked the trend to slip 1.3% after its net loss in the first nine months of the year widened compared with a year ago. Meanwhile, electronics-to-nuclear power conglomerate Toshiba fell over 1% after unveiling plans to split into three companies.
Aussie miners up on Evergrande relief
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index snapped four days of losses on Friday to close 0.8% higher.
A brief respite from Evergrande’s looming default helped mining stocks post gains of over 2% on Friday. Iron ore-focused miners BHP Group and Rio Tinto jumped 2.8% and 3.4%, respectively, in Sydney.
S&P/ASX All Technology index added 1.6% as buy-now pay-later firms Afterpay and Zip ended 2% and 3.7% higher, respectively. S&P/ASX 200 Financials index inched up 0.6% with all the “Big Four” banks ending the session in the green.
Read more: Japan’s Rakuten Group’s loss widens in first nine months
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