Stocks slid for a sixth day in seven, paced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
"The bad Christmas shopping season means companies will delay placing new orders as they work down inventories," said Belinda Yu, who helps manage NT$8 billion (US$230 million) in shares at Jih Sun Securities Investment Trust Co (
Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) gained after the island's second-largest shipping company by market value raised its profit forecast for the year by half. Wan Hai Lines jumped NT$1.40, or 5.3 percent, to NT$28.
The cement sector attracted bargain-hunting interest due to product price hikes, while the auto sector came in for profit-taking after solid gains.
Taiwan Cement Corp (台泥) rose NT$0.15, or 1.5 percent, to NT$10.45. The cement-maker plans to raise prices by 8 percent starting tomorrow, a Chinese-language newspaper said.
China Motor Co (
"Some fund managers are defending their holdings while rivals tried to drag down others' holdings in a competition for fund performance," Grand Cathay Securities (
"Such seesawing is a common practice on the last trading session of the year as securities investment trust funds calculate funds' performance based on stocks' closing levels for the year."
TAIEX shed 5.30, or 0.1 percent, to close at 4452.45, its lowest since Oct. 22. The benchmark fell 20 percent this year and has dropped 47 percent in the last three years.
TSMC shed NT$0.60, or 1.4 percent, to NT$42.60. The chipmaker's shares tumbled 16 percent this month on concern orders may slow after the holiday season.
Within the index, more than three stocks rose for every two that fell. The total value of trade was NT$40.08 billion, the lowest since Oct. 7.
Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱) lost NT$1.50, or 1.6 percent, to NT$90 after the chip designer lowered its sales forecast for December by a 10th to NT$670 million. Silicon Integrated Systems Corp (矽統) slipped NT$0.90, or 3.3 percent, to NT$26.50.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day