The TAIEX fell for the first day in three yesterday. Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation's largest maker of computer-memory chips, declined after it reported an unexpected loss in the third quarter compared with a profit a year ago.
Acer Inc gained after saying it will spend as much as NT$14.8 billion (US$439 million) to buy back its shares.
The TAIEX shed 34.05, or 0.6 percent, to 5,938.42, ending a two-day, 2.6 percent gain. About seven stocks declined for every four that gained. The futures contract for October delivery lost 0.8 percent to 5,979.
About 5.8 billion shares changed hands, 36 percent above the three-month, daily average. Shares worth NT$121.7 billion traded, 24 percent above the three-month daily average.
"Investors are closely monitoring profit reports and quickly adjusting their investments, switching from weak performers to companies with good growth," said Eddie Chiu, who manages the equivalent of US$116 million for First Global Investment Trust Co's (
Nanya Technology dropped NT$1.70, or 6.9 percent, to NT$22.90. Nanya said its net loss was NT$169 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with net income of NT$586 million a year ago, partly because of higher costs to test its semiconductors.
Acer climbed NT$0.50, or 1 percent, to NT$48.50, adding to a two-day, 6.2 percent rally. The company will buy as many as 40 million shares for as much as NT$52 each starting today for two months, it said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange. Acer will offer a premium of more than 8 percent for the shares, based on their closing price on Monday.
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's No. 3 maker of flat-panel displays for personal computers, rose NT$0.20, or 0.4 percent, to NT$45.20. AU Optronics was raised to "overweight/positive" from "equal-weight/neutral" by David Toh, an analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), the nation's largest food processor, gained NT$0.15, or 1.2 percent, to NT$13.15.
Uni-President plans to spend as much as NT$6.1 billion to buy back a 2.9 percent stake in itself starting yesterday. It plans to buy back as many as 100 million shares for as much as NT$14 each, it said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子), the world's second-largest maker of chipsets for personal computers, shed NT$0.50, or 0.9 percent, to NT$54.
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