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2026-07-31 13:29:19 The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, in line with expectations. The decision to hold rates steady was passed by a 6-3 vote, similar to the US Federal Reserve. The three dissenting members advocated a 25 bps rate hike to raise the benchmark rate to 4%. Driven by a sharp rally in hard tech stocks, the three major US stock indices rebounded overnight (30th). The DJIA closed up 613 points or 1.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose nearly 1.7% and nearly 2.8%, respectively. Memory chip stocks surged, with Sandisk Corporation (SNDK.US) jumping 26%, while Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) and SK hynix Inc. (SKHY.US) ADRs each rose about 17% to 18%. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) surged 15.5% after its latest quarterly revenue and net profit beat expectations. Led by chip and hard tech stocks, major Asia-Pacific equity markets broadly advanced today (31st). South Korean stocks once soared 17% for the largest gain on record, Taiwan stocks jumped 8%, while China's ChiNext Index also climbed 5%. Mainland China's three major A-share indices opened strongly this morning. The Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen Component Index closed the half-day session up 0.76% and 3.16%, respectively, while the ChiNext Index rose 5% at midday. Hong Kong stocks closed the half-day session down 28 points or 0.1% at 25,830, with turnover at HKD178.567 billion. Taiwan stocks rebounded sharply. After opening up 1,677 points or 4.2%, gains widened to 3,196 points or 8% at 43,129. MediaTek, United Microelectronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing hit limit-up, while Delta Electronics and Hon Hai Precision rose 9.2% to 9.6%. Memory chip stocks Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics also hit limit-up. The Bank of Japan kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, in line with expectations. Extending the previous session's gains, the Nikkei Index opened up 89 points this morning before gains accelerated sharply. By the afternoon, it surged 2,617 points or 4.2% to 64,484. Semiconductor equipment stocks rebounded strongly, with Disco (6146.JP), Lasertec (6920.JP), Advantest (6857.JP) and chipmaker Shin-Etsu Polymer (3436.JP) rising 13.1% to 17.5%, while Tokyo Electron (8035.JP) gained 7.2%. SoftBank (9984.JP) rose 14.4%. Optical fiber stock Fujikura (5803.JP) climbed 13.6%. South Korea's KOSPI opened up 1.1% this morning before gains expanded sharply. It once soared 955 points or 17.1%, marking the largest gain on record, reaching as high as 6,548. It was last reported at 6,529, up 936 points or 16.7%. Samsung surged 23.4%, while SK hynix skyrocketed 28.1%. South Korea plans to inject KRW20 trillion (about USD13.9 billion) into its sovereign wealth fund for strategic investments in AI, data centers and infrastructure. South Korea also tightened margin requirements for retail investors trading leveraged single-stock ETFs, effective today. South Korean stocks had cumulatively fallen about 17% over the past three days. According to multiple reports including Yonhap Infomax under Yonhap News Agency, amid mounting pressure from expanding retail investor losses, the Korea Exchange recently conducted technical reviews of market emergency mechanisms. The review included reassessing the feasibility of suspending short-selling transactions and whether the current 30% daily price limit should be narrowed to curb extreme single-day market volatility. Sources stressed that these internal assessments were routine precautionary reviews targeting extreme market conditions and aimed at confirming implementation conditions for various tools, and did not mean the government had decided to adopt such intervention measures. In response to the related rumors, the Korea Exchange later stated publicly that it had not received any government instructions regarding adjustments to short-selling mechanisms, nor had it conducted substantive research into such policies, reiterating that major financial decisions of this kind could not be determined unilaterally by the exchange. Singapore stocks fell 0.8%. Malaysia's KLCI and Indonesia's IDX each rose 0.5%. Thailand's SET 50 gained 1.1%, while Australia's ASX 200 and New Zealand's NZX 50 edged up 0.1% to 0.2% near the close. India's Sensex added 0.1% and India's Nifty 50 rose 0.2%. Vietnam's HNX Index fell 0.7%, while the VNI Index rose 0.3%. The Philippines' PSEI edged down 0.1%. (da/a)~ AASTOCKS Financial News Website: www.aastocks.com This article was automatically translated by AI, the Chinese version should be considered the authoritative version. AASTOCKS.com Limited does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness and accepts no liability for any damages or losses arising from the use of this translation. | |