BENGALURU- Taiwan shares jumped to a three-month high on Friday, boosted by chipmaker TSMC hitting a record peak on upbeat earnings, while other Asian stock markets were mixed on concerns about China’s economy.
Data from China showed that its economy grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in the third quarter, as a tumbling property sector remains a major challenge for Beijing.
Taiwanese stocks climbed as much as 2.9 percent to their highest since mid-July, while Thai shares rose 0.5 percent and posted a weekly gain of about 2.1 percent, their biggest since late September.
Indonesian stocks posted a gain of nearly 3 percent for the week, their biggest since mid-May, while South Korean shares closed for a second straight weekly rise.
Meanwhile, most Asian currencies inched higher but posted weekly falls as the dollar gained on the back of strong US data.
The Philippine peso was 0.5 percent higher, but closed for a fourth consecutive weekly fall. The Malaysian ringgit was up 0.2 percent, but poised for a third consecutive weekly decline.
The South Korean won inched up 0.1 percent, but was on track for a third consecutive weekly fall.
In contrast, the Thai baht was set to gain 0.6 percent this week and the Indonesian rupiah rise 0.7 percent.
“The fact that currencies remain under a little bit of pressure is a deterrent to some central banks from further easing. That’s particularly the case for those central banks who are more concerned about that,” said Robert Carnell, regional head of research, Asia Pacific at ING.
“Bank Indonesia is more concerned about their currency than Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).”
Earlier this week, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) surprisingly cut its key interest rate, while the Philippine central bank lowered rates and Bank Indonesia maintained the status quo as expected.
