Stocks fell for the third quarter in four. China Airlines Co (
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC,
"The disease has spread fears beyond the airlines -- more and more businesses will cancel their activities in this region," said Karen Chang (張馨文), who manages the equivalent of US$23 million for the Balance Fund at International Investment Trust Co (國際投信).
The TAIEX lost 155.79, or 3.5 percent, to close at 4321.22. It was the benchmark's biggest drop since Feb. 6 and its sixth decline in seven days. For the quarter, the index fell 2.9 percent.
MSCI Taiwan futures for April delivery in Singapore shed 4.4 percent to 181.90. The Taiwan Futures Index slid 3.8 percent to 4286. Only 39 of the index's 609 stocks gained.
Exporters such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (
At least 1,550 people in more than a dozen countries worldwide have been infected with the disease and 54 people have died from it, the World Health Organization reported. The local Center for Disease Control ordered people who were onboard contaminated flights, medical workers and others who have come in contact with the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, to stay at home.
China Airlines, which counts Hong Kong among its most profitable routes, fell NT$0.90, or 7 percent, to NT$12.00. EVA Airways Corp (
TSMC dropped NT$2.10, or 4.7 percent, to NT$42.30. Executives of ATI Technologies Inc, an Ontario-based computer-graphic chipmaker, reportedly canceled the trip because of the disease.
Hon Hai Precision, a computer cable connector maker, fell NT$4.50, or 3.9 percent, to NT$110.50. Quanta Computer, the country's largest notebook-computer maker, dropped NT$4, or 6.2 percent, to NT$61.00.
China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), the nation's fourth-largest financial holding company by market value, fell NT$0.60, or 4.5 percent, to NT$12.65. China Development said it plans to sell NT$25 billion (US$719 million) of bonds this year.
China Development will seek approval from the Ministry of Finance for the sale, the proceeds of which will help fund its lending, investment and other capital requirements, the company said in a statement on March 28, without elaborating.
First Financial Holding Co (
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