Stocks climbed for a sixth session yesterday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's largest supplier of made-to-order computer chips, led rivals higher after saying sales last month jumped 14 percent from a year ago.
Computer-related shares such as Quanta Computer Inc (
"Demand in the technology sector has certainly improved," said Fam Hsieh, who manages the US$35 million Balance Fund at Grand Cathay Securities Trust Co (
"Companies like TSMC have proved with concrete sales figures that this isn't just hype," Hsieh said.
The TAIEX added 45.71, or 0.9 percent, to close at5,367.97, its highest in almost a year. The benchmark has surged 10 percent this month. About six shares gained for every five that declined. July futures on the index rose 0.2 percent to 5,382.
About 8.2 billion shares changed hands, the busiest trading in at least three years. Shares worth NT$196.6 billion (US$5.7 billion) were traded, the highest since Jan. 24 last year.
AU Optronics Corp (
The Ministry of Finance on Monday forecast exports to the US and China will increase in the second half after the World Health Organization on Saturday declared the global SARS epidemic "contained" after removing Taiwan as last on its list of infected places.
The government is counting on exports rising 7 percent this year to meet its projection of 2.89 percent economic growth.
A survey last month by Goldman Sachs of expected information technology spending this year showed outlays will probably be little changed from a year earlier. In April, the outlook predicted a decline of 3.2 percent, Goldman analyst Laura Conigliaro wrote in a note to clients.
TSMC climbed NT$1, or 1.6 percent, to NT$62.
United Microelectronics Corp (
Quanta Computer, which counts Dell Computer Corp as its biggest client, gained NT$1.50, or 1.7 percent, to NT$89. AU Optronics, which supplies computer flat panels to Dell, rallied NT$1.90, or 6.5 percent, to NT$31.10.
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
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by