Shares ended modestly higher yesterday, led by a surge in dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chipmakers after a bullish second-half outlook by a US industry giant.
However, overall trade remained lackluster ahead of a US Federal Reserve meeting next week.
The TAIEX finished 23.46 points, or 0.4 percent, higher at 5,802.55 in dealings that were valued at NT$75.28 billion (US$2.2 billion). Advancers narrowly outnumbered decliners 361 to 355, while 223 issues ended the day unchanged.
"The bourse is hanging in a short-term balance before moving on the [expected] Fed rate hike next week," said Alan Tseng (曾炎裕), a vice president at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券).
The central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low to help the economy amid signs a mainland government clampdown on industrial expansion in China will hurt exports.
"The central bank's `no' move eases worries over an imminent interest rate increase that would slow economic growth," said Michael On, who manages the equivalent of US$30 million in his capacity as managing director of Beyond Asset Management Co in Taipei.
The nation's largest DRAM maker, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), closed 3.9 percent higher at NT$26.5, while ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) jumped 3.4 percent to NT$18.3 after US giant Micron Technology Inc gave a bullish second-half outlook late on Wednesday.
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), a main board-listed DRAM stock, rose 1.6 percent to NT$25.2.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure