Stocks rose for the first time in four days, paced by China Airlines Co (華航) and other companies that have been hurt by the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), after the Cabinet approved measures to defray business losses caused by the outbreak.
The plan, which must be approved by the legislature, involves spending NT$50 billion (US$1.4 billion).
``The government aid package may be enough to provide material relief to companies,'' said Barro Liao (廖國峰), who manages the US$52 million High-tech Fund at Prudential Securities Investment Trust Co (保誠投信).
"It certainly can boost investor confidence in the stock market," he said.
The TAIEX rose 60.82, or 1.5 percent, to 4,200.32. It had lost 9.3 percent in the previous three days. MSCI Taiwan futures for April delivery in Singapore climbed 2.4 percent to 181.10. The Taiwan Futures Index gained 1.7 percent to 4,195.
China Airlines jumped NT$0.60, or 5.4 percent, to NT$11.75.
EVA Airways Corp (
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), which makes notebook computers at a plant near Shanghai, advanced NT$1, or 1.6 percent, to NT$65.
Asustek Computer (華碩電腦), which makes more of its motherboards in China, added NT$1.50, or 2.3 percent, to NT$68.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電子), a maker of computer-power systems and chargers, surged NT$2.50, or 6.9 percent, to NT$39. Delta said first-quarter profit rose 39 percent to NT$1.1 billion after sales, reported earlier, jumped 78 percent to NT$10.2 billion. Delta's customers include Dell Computer Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co.
Formosa Plastics Corp (
ProMOS Technologies Inc (
With rise in freight rates on long-haul US-bound services, Evergreen Marine (長榮海運) rose NY$0.90, or 4.1 percent, to NT$22.90, while Yangming Marine Transport (陽明海運) advanced NT$0.20, or 1.3 percent, to NT$15.70.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”