Stocks rose on the last day of the year yesterday, leaving the TAIEX 32 percent higher over the year.
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
The TAIEX added 23.94, or 0.4 percent, to 5,890.69. Three stocks rose for every two that fell. The Taiwan futures index added 0.2 percent to 5,903.
Looking back at 2003, the TAIEX rose 1,438 points, or 32.3 percent, since the last trading day of the previous year. On Dec. 31 last year it closed at 4,452.45. The rise marked the best performance for the index since 1996, when it gained 34 percent.
A positive economic outlook and stronger demand are expected to boost Taiwan share prices in 2004 once the dust settles from the March presidential elections, analysts predict.
The benchmark index is seen reaching 7,000 points after a volatile year in which SARS, the Iraq war and heightened tensions with Beijing drove it to a low of 4,139.50 points in April.
Authorities have projected Taiwan's economy will grow 4.1 percent this year amid brisk exports and domestic business activities, up from an estimated 3.15 percent for 2003.
Bullish sentiment and strong foreign buying pushed the index to a 17-month high of 6,142.32 in November, but jitters over growing tensions with Beijing after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) unveiled his plans for a controversial referendum later pushed the market into a consolidation phase.
"Strains on cross-strait relations will continue to exert pressure on the stock market before the elections as all politically sensitive issues will be raised during the campaign," said Bentham Hung, a fund manager of Fuh-Hwa Securities Investment and Trust (復華投信).
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”