Shares rose yesterday on a bullish demand outlook for technology goods in the first quarter.
The TAIEX climbed 28.49 points, or 0.43 percent, to 6,735.89, approaching the index's 20-month high of 6,742.39 on Monday. Turnover was NT$133.58 billion (US$4.16 billion).
Makers of thin-film-transistor (TFT) liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels led the rise as investors regained confidence in demand for their products.
"Sentiment toward the TFT-LCD industry is still positive," said Bill Huang, a trader at KGI Securities Co (
AU Optronics Corp (
The company's closest rival, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (
The gains followed a statement by glassmaker Corning Inc that it expects global demand for glass used to produce LCDs to triple by 2007 from the 45 million square meters recorded in 2004.
Construction shares as a whole advanced 3.4 percent as house sales remain strong, led by Hung Sheng Construction Ltd (宏盛建設), which surged by the daily limit of 7 percent to NT$24.5.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電), the world's largest made-to-order chipmaker, closed down 1.35 percent at NT$65.80, while rival United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) was steady at NT$18.55 despite reports it may be fined up to NT$25 million for allegedly investing illegally in China.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained