■ Electronics, panels boost TAIEX
Shares rose slightly yesterday on buying in the electronics and flat-panel display sectors.
The TAIEX gained 0.3 percent at 6,046.20.
The electronics subindex rose 0.6 percent, outperforming the main board. Among the strongest gainers was Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer by revenue, which rose 2.2 percent to NT$165.5.
Companies affiliated with Hon Hai also performed well. Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準), in which Hon Hai holds a stake of around 30 percent, rose 4.3 percent to NT$156.5.
"The common theme among the Hon Hai family is that their profitability is good," said Tony Chen, an analyst at Industrial Bank of Taiwan Securities.
■ Taipei-Auckland service ending
Air New Zealand announced yesterday that it will end its flights from Auckland to Taipei next March, dubbing it one of the least profitable services in its network.
"The cost of operating this service has significantly increased in recent years and these costs plus a decline in visitor numbers from Taiwan, has made this service unsustainable in the future," said Norm Thompson, group general manager of marketing network and sales.
He said the number of passengers travelling to and from Taiwan had declined by 30 percent and 35 percent, respectively, over the last six years.
Air New Zealand has jointly operated direct flights with Taipei since 1991, firstly in partnership with Mandarin Airlines (華信) and since 1995 with EVA Airways (長榮).
"Demand for the Taipei service was much higher in the 1990s due in part to the influx of Taiwanese immigrants to New Zealand and the business opportunities available here," Thompson said.
"Unfortunately, this growth has not continued despite our efforts to revive the service through our codeshare agreement with EVA Air," he said.
The last flight will be on March 24.
■ VIA to go it alone on CPUs
VIA Technologies Inc (威盛) said yesterday that it would develop its own technology for central processing units (CPUs) and would not hold talks to renew its license with US microchip giant Intel Corp.
"According to agreements on cross-licensing reached [with Intel] in 2003, the CPU licensing will expire in April 2006," a VIA official said. "We have ... committed [ourselves] to developing our own technology and solutions."
VIA said the Intel factor should not produce any major impact on shipments of CPUs when the license expires.
A Chinese-language newspaper earlier reported that VIA was still in talks with Intel on continuing its licensing agreement for CPUs but no agreement had been reached.
Intel and VIA reached a settlement in April 2003 over a series of pending patent lawsuits related to chipsets and microprocessors.
■ NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar fell for a second day on speculation some insurance companies sold the currency to invest abroad, seeking higher returns.
The NT dollar dropped NT$0.11 to close at NT$33.622 on the Taipei foreign exchange market, on turnover of US$1.036 billion.
The currency has dropped 5.5 percent this year as the advantage for holding the US currency has grown. The US Federal Reserve's overnight bank lending rate is almost double Taiwan's key interest rate, driving investors away from the nation's assets such as bank deposits.
"The returns for investing in Taiwan are lower," said Pory Shih, a currency trader in Taipei.
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