■ Investors take a breather
Shares ended with little change yesterday as investors took a breather after sharp gains in the previous two sessions, though technology stocks remained strong overall. The TAIEX edged down 1.11 points, or 0.02 percent, to 5,966.85, on turnover of NT$63.98 billion (US$2.05 billion). A total of 507 stocks finished lower, 316 higher and 188 steady. "It's natural for the market to take a rest after two big gaining sessions," said Bill Huang, a trader at KGI Securities (中信證券). Electronics shares rose 0.3 percent as a whole. Fund managers said shares are poised for further gains, because on May 31 Morgan Stanley Capital International will give full weight to Taiwan stocks in its global indexes, which many fund managers use as benchmarks.
■ TSMC sales fall
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufact-uring Co (TSMC, 台積電) said sales fell 8.4 percent last month, the third straight monthly decline, as customers reduced stockpiles. Sales dropped to NT$18.9 billion (US$606 million) from NT$20.6 billion in April last year, the company said on its Web site yesterday. TSMC had sales of NT$17.6 billion in March. TSMC, whose customers include Intel Corp and Texas Instruments Inc, reported its first quarterly profit drop in two years during the first quarter after customers cut orders to reduce inventories. Chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said on April 26 that industry sales will stall this year. Rival United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) said sales in April fell 31 percent to NT$6.37 billion from NT$9.21 billion a year earlier. Sales fell from NT$7.01 billion in March.
■ Taiwan Mobile forks out cash
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation's third-largest wireless service provider, said yesterday that it plans to increase spending on new equipment by 30 percent this year, paving the way for the launch of its third-generation (3G) services in September. Taiwan Mobile, which changed its name last month from Taiwan Cellular Corp, will spend a total of NT$6.5 billion (US$208.6 million) on telecommunication facilities this year, up from NT$5 billion last year, financial chief executive Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) said. More than half of the amount, or NT$3.8 billion, will be used in building 400 new base stations to expand the coverage of the 3G service, Cheng said. Last year, the mobile operator spent NT$2.5 billion on 3G equipment. Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) plan to lay out NT$3 billion and NT$4.5 billion respectively on the 3G equipment this year. Far EasTone is scheduled to offer its 3G services by the end of July.
■ Yulon has new model
Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), the Taiwan partner of Japan's Nissan Motor Co, said it designed a new model for Nissan to evaluate for Chinese consumers. Yulon, Taiwan's largest automaker by market value, has submitted the design to Nissan, Yulon spokesman Charles Shiau (蕭明輝) said, confirming a newspaper report yesterday. Financial and design details of the car haven't been completed, Shiau said. It would "probably" be a utility vehicle, he said. Research and development for Nissan would generate "significant" profits for Yulon, the newspaper said, citing vice chairman Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰). The growth pace of China's car sales dropped to 15 percent last year after surging 50 percent in 2002 and 76 percent in 2003. Car sales in China fell 3.2 percent in the first quarter, the third decline in five quarters.
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