Stocks rose after the government assurances that it will boost share prices to curb market swings during the US-led war against Iraq. Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) led gains.
The TAIEX rose 84.18, or 1.9 percent, to 4,599.25. MSCI Taiwan futures for February delivery in Singapore gained 1.9 percent to 198.10. The Taiwan Futures Index added 1.5 percent to 4,588. About four stocks gained for every one that declined.
"Promises to use market intervention measures have reassured investors that the market will not plunge during the US attack on Iraq," said Simon Chao, who manages US$18 million in equities at President Investment Trust Corp (統一投信).
Stocks fell as much as 0.2 percent after US forces began attacking Iraq. The index rose again after Premier Yu Shyi-kun assured the country will stabilize financial markets.
"Some investors are panicky, worrying the war will not be a quick one," said Phil Chen, who manages Grand Cathay Securities Investment Trust Co's (
The government may reduce its 7 percent daily limit on stock movements as one of three possible measures aimed at damping share-price swings or activating National Stabilization Fund to buy shares, Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) said. The government will also consider closing the stock market if prices plummet, he told lawmakers on Wednesday.
The fund, which totaled NT$500 billion (US$14.4 billion) at its inception in 1998, is "prepared to intervene," Vice Minister of Finance Gordon Chen (陳樹) said this month.
Chen said the government might activate the fund during a war.
State-controlled companies such as Chunghwa Telecom and China Steel Corp (中鋼) advanced as some investors bet the government will buy shares of those companies to support the market.
"Normally, the government will buy shares with the largest capitalization or state-controlled firms to boost the market," Chao said.
``Yes, war has started, but now people are starting to worry how the war will develop ahead,'' said Jack Shih, an assistant vice president at Daiwa Securities SMBC's in-house trading department.
Most retail investors will likely be watching the war closely for the next 10 to 15 days before they return to the market, traders said.
``However, a more long-term worry that we should also keep in mind is whether the economy will rebound after a war as expected,'' said Shih.
Taiwanese companies have filed a flurry of statements at the Taiwan Stock Exchange web site, saying the war is not having an impact on their businesses or finances.
All of the eight major stock categories gained ground, with pulp and paper issues moving up the most at 3.2 percent, followed by plastics and chemical stocks at 2.2 percent, electrical shares at 1.9 percent, textile issues at 1.5 percent, bank and insurance shares at 1.4 percent, cement stocks at 1 percent, construction stocks at 0.7 percent, and foodstuff shares at 0.2 percent.
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],”
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
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