Stocks rose, paced by United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), after the chipmaker said first-quarter profits rose because its US sales gained and margins improved.
The TAIEX rose 39.75, or 1 percent, to 4,178.82. MSCI Taiwan futures for May delivery in Singapore gained 3.5 percent to 182.
UMC rose 1.5 percent to NT$20.30. It said on Wednesday that profit rose by 87 percent to NT$403 million (US$11.6 million) from NT$216 million a year ago.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) gained 1.1 percent to NT$48.30 after the stock was raised to "overweight/in-line" from "equal-weight/in-line" by analyst Dickson Ho at Morgan Stanley.
Some computer-related stocks declined, however, after Computex Taipei and the annual Taipei Softex Show were cancelled on concern of the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the country's largest notebook computer maker, fell NT$0.50, or 0.8 percent, to NT$60.50.
``The SARS damage to Taiwan's economy hasn't been fully reflected in stock prices,'' said Barro Liao (
China Airlines Co (華航) gained NT$0.15, or 1.3 percent, to NT$11.90. EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) fell NT$0.25, or 2.3 percent, to NT$10.45. The government may allow the two airlines to run direct chartered cargo flights to China to ease disruptions caused by SARS.
Macronix International Co (
Macronix's net loss widened to NT$3.21 billion from NT$2.7 billion a year ago. A Bloomberg News survey of five analysts had a median estimate of NT$2.5 billion.
Silicon Integrated System Corp (矽統) fell NT$0.80, or 4.2 percent, to NT$18.40. The company shut its research department on Thursday after a worker was suspected of having SARS.
VIA Technologies Inc (
VIA had a net loss of NT$646 million (US$18.6 million) in the first quarter, compared with net income of NT$1.1 billion a year ago.
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 Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday reported record sales for the first quarter, which analysts attributed to solid demand for emerging technologies. Consolidated revenue totaled NT$592.64 billion (US$18.51 billion) in the January-to-March period, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, but down 5.26 percent from the previous quarter, TSMC said in a statement. The first-quarter revenue beat analysts’ average projection of NT$579.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported. That performance lends weight to expectations that the world’s most valuable chipmaker would return to solid growth this year after weathering a post-COVID-19-pandemic cratering of smartphone and computer sales. TSMC is budgeting
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last