The TAIEX rose for the first day in three. Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), the world's second-largest maker of notebook PC's, advanced after saying first-quarter profit surged 71 percent as sales climbed.
Yageo Corp (國巨) and Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽電子) declined on concern about their debt payments.
The TAIEX added 8.83, or 0.2 percent, to 4,564.93. About three stocks declined for every two that gained.
MSCI Taiwan futures for April delivery in Singapore rose 0.1 percent to 196.20, while the Taiwan Futures Index shed 0.02 percent to 4,570.
Gains were limited on concern severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was spreading in the country. The Taipei City Government said seven medical workers may have caught SARS from a patient, forcing the city to shut parts of a hospital.
Ali Corp (揚智科技), the nation's third-largest designer of personal-computer chipsets, fell NT$0.90, or 2.3 percent, to NT$37.70. Ali said it signed a contract with Intel Corp to make products that work with the US company's newest Pentium 4 processors, the EETimes Web site reported, without saying where it obtained the information.
Ali would be the third company in Taiwan to get permission to make chipsets that work with the latest Pentium 4 processors, the report said.
Shin Kong Financial Holdings Co (新光金控), the owner of the nation's No. 2 life insurer, fell NT$0.10, or 1.1 percent, to NT$9.10. Shin Kong plans to sell NT$5 billion of subordinated debt to bolster capital at its life insurance unit.
The company said it expects profit of NT$2.1 billion this year, rebounding from a loss of NT$14.1 billion for last year. The financial holding company, formed last year, didn't give a comparative figure for 2001 in a statement it issued.
KGI Securities Co (中信證券), the brokerage arm of the Koos Group (和信集團), fell NT$0.30, or 3.1 percent, to NT$9.50. KGI said it will buy rival Taiyu Securities Co (
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the