Share prices closed little changed yesterday as Wall Street-driven buying offset concerns over a new tax scheme and caution ahead of a US Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, dealers said.
They said foreign investors' selling in the previous session also weighed on sentiment, but that year-end window-dressing might have helped limit the downside.
The weighted index closed up 1.93 points or 0.03 percent at 6,266.29, off a high of 6,272.61 and a low of 6,206.83, on turnover of NT$83.77 billion (US$2.49 billion).
Decliners outnumbered gainers 583 to 436, with 183 stocks flat.
A total of 26 stocks closed limit-up, while 10 were limit-down.
The Legislative Yuan on Friday approved the bill on alternative minimum tax (AMT).
"There were worries over the possible negative impact of the new tax scheme on corporate earnings," said Frank Lin, a senior vice president at Fubon Securities Corp (
"The thin turnover indicated a cautious approach in the run-up to the US Fed's decision on interest rates," he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
Thin-film-transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel makers were hit by a report that Dell Inc has reduced orders for panels for desktop monitors by 600,000 units for November and December, but technical support limited the index's fall, dealers said.
In the TFT LCD panel sector, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) closed down NT$0.55 at NT$44.50, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) fell NT$0.90 to NT$38.80.
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