The Asian stock markets mainly showed a slight improvement on Thursday. Investors incorporated the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision to leave the current stimulus policy unchanged.
Apple’s suppliers in the region showed a mixed picture after the results of the iPhone maker. Trading was also relatively calm as the meaningful Tokyo exchange remained closed due to a day off in Japan.
Apple posted more revenue and profit in the quarter than analysts expected, thanks to strong iPhone sales. Sales of Mac computers also rose sharply. The group also announced that it had not suffered from delivery problems due to the worldwide chip shortage but did warn of a possible impact on sales of the iPad and Mac. In Seoul, Apple supplier LG Display fell 3 percent. In Hong Kong, AAC Tech gained 0.1 percent, and Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC fell 0.3 percent.
In the meantime, the main index in Shanghai recorded at least 0.2 percent in the plus and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained at 0.5 percent. The British bank Standard Chartered, which is also listed in Hong Kong, rose 1.6 percent. The bank, which mainly focuses on emerging markets, saw its first-quarter earnings rise more strongly than expected thanks to the economic recovery from the corona crisis.
Tencent won 1 percent in Hong Kong. According to Reuters news agency, the Chinese competition authority wants to impose a significant fine on the internet company for monopoly practices. The penalty will be lower than that of the Chinese online store Alibaba, which had to pay a record amount of 2.3 billion euros. The Chinese authorities have been tightening up the supervision of large tech companies for some time.