Stocks fell yesterday, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電).
The TAIEX shed 12.88, or 0.2 percent, to close trading at 6,089.28. About six stocks gained for every five that declined. Index futures for October delivery fell 0.3 percent to 6,118.
China Airlines (華航) fell 3.2 percent to NT$18.20. EVA Airways Corp (長榮) fell 2.9 percent to NT$14.85. China rejected President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) call for talks because he stopped short of acknowledging that Taiwan and China are one country, the government-owned China Daily reported yesterday.
"All the talk about Chen's upcoming major speech generated investor optimism that Taiwan will soon start full-fledged direct links with China," said Tom Fu, a fund manager at PCA Securities Investment Trust Co, which manages NT$124 billion in Taiwan.
"The reality is political issues will not be resolved simply by speeches," he said.
TSMC, the world's largest supplier of made-to-order computer chips, fell 1.2 percent to NT$42.80. AU Optronics, the nation's largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions, fell 3.5 percent to NT$43.60.
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電子) fell 2.2 percent to NT$49.90 after Dell Inc, the world's largest seller of personal computers, recalled 4.4 million notebook computer power adapters made by Delta Electronics because they may catch fire.
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
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San