Stocks fell, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after a local newspaper said the company may issue cash dividends. Some investors said that would cut into its spending on research and design.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) dropped after the government sold only 1 percent of the 100 million shares on offer in the first of a three-day auction of the phone company. Chunghwa Telecom lost NT$0.50, or 1 percent, to NT$52.
The TAIEX shed 27, to close at 4,499.69.
MSCI Taiwan futures for February delivery in Singapore fell 1.5 percent to 188.50. The Taiwan Futures Index lost 1 percent to 4,469. About three stocks fell for every two that gained. Shares worth NT$44 billion changed hands in the market.
TSMC, the world's largest supplier of made-to-order chips, dropped NT$0.60, or 1.4 percent, to NT$43.40.
The company said it proposed to offer a 2002 dividend of 80 shares for every 1,000 held after held a board meeting yesterday morning.
The company will propose a combined cash dividend of NT$455 million for preferred A shareholders. Shareholders will decide on the proposals at an annual meeting on June 3, the company said.
"The bigger question is can a steady cash dividend be provided every year," said Mike Shiao (
Shiao has invested his fund in companies that paid dividends of at least NT$1 per share in the past three years.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a maker of computer-cable connectors, rose NT$0.50, or 0.5 percent, to NT$112.50. Hon Hai received an order to make several million cell-phone handsets for UTStarcom Inc, a local newspaper reported.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last