Stocks gained, boosting the TAIEX to its highest in a year. Steelmakers such as China Steel Corp (中鋼) advanced after a Chinese-language newspaper report suggested they may raise prices because of demand from China.
"Steelmakers are benefiting from booming demand powered by the economic recovery," said Reming Yu, who oversees the equivalent of US$4.2 billion in stocks at Prudential Securities Investment Trust Co (保誠投信).
"Spending on infrastructure also helped," Yu said.
The TAIEX climbed 78.01, or 1.5 percent, to 5,413.87. That's its highest since July 12 last year. About five stocks gained for each declined. July futures on the index rose 1.9 percent to 5,429.
About 6.8 billion shares changed hands on a turnover of NT$151.2 billion.
China Steel rose NT$1.40, or 5.5 percent, to NT$27.
Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp (東和), a maker of steel plates, jumped NT$0.75, or 6.6 percent, to NT$12.15.
Feng Hsin Iron & Steel Co (豐興), which specializes in reinforced steel bars used in construction projects, advanced NT$1.70, or 6.8 percent, to NT$26.80. Wei Chih Steel Industrial (威致), a steel-rod maker, gained NT$0.40, or 6.7 percent, to NT$6.35.
The government plans to spend NT$128 billion (US$3.7 billion) to boost jobs and revive the economy.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (
Investors swamped arrangers Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Merrill Lynch & Co and UBS AG with applications to buy American depositary receipts, said an official at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, who declined to be identified.
AU Optronics (友達), the nation's largest flat-panel maker, gained 4.7 percent to NT$33.6.
Chi Mei Optoelectronics (奇美), the nation's second largest flat-panel maker, ended 6.9 percent higher at NT$35.9.
Hannstar Display Corp (瀚羽 彩晶), the fourth-largest maker of flat-panel displays, rose NT$0.50, or 3.3 percent, to NT$15.60.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained