■ TAIEX ends higher
Share prices closed mixed yesterday as losses triggered initially by Wall Street's overnight decline were offset by hopes for foreign capital inflows, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 5.39 points at 6,578.61, on turnover of NT$100.16 billion (US$3.06 billion).
Grand Cathay Investment Services Corp (大華投顧) chairman Tu Jin-lung (杜金龍) said investors bought into undervalued stocks with good earnings prospects, following a previous correction.
"Gains in the local currency raised hopes for capital inflows and put some momentum back into the stock market, bolstering interest in stocks with better earnings prospects," he said.
■ Hua Nan gets green light
The Financial Supervisory Com-mission has approved Hua Nan Bank's (華南銀行) application to set up a second representative office in Hanoi, the commission said yesterday.
Hua Nan's plan to open another office in Hanoi is aimed at serving increasing Taiwanese investment in the area as the Vietnamese government is developing the north of the country, the commission said.
State-controlled Hua Nan obtained the Vietnamese financial regulator's approval in April to officially upgrade its representative office in Ho Chih Minh City to a branch.
Taiwanese banks have been aggressively developing in Vietnam. To date, the country has six branches, 10 representative offices and one joint venture with a local bank rival in the Southeast Asian state.
Taiwan has recently overtaken Singapore to be the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with cumulative investment totaling US$8 billion, according to the commission.
■ More workers moonlighting
More office workers are looking for outsourced jobs in an attempt to supplement their income as consumer prices continue to rise, an online employment service provider said yesterday.
According to Tien Chu-cheng (田居正), the manager of an outsourcing jobs Web site operated by 104 Job Bank, the number of job-seeking members on the site increased 6.3 percent last month compared with June, with as many as 75 percent of job-seekers being office workers looking for moonlighting opportunities.
The number of outsourced jobs available last month also saw a 6.3 percent increase, with job openings in the category of "animated graphics/design" accounting for the largest proportion at 43.1 percent, Tien said.
Other popular job openings include architectural graphics and interior design for housing projects, as well as web designers for online stores, he added.
■ BenQ's sales up last month
BenQ Corp (明基), the nation's biggest mobile-phone maker, yesterday reported NT$16.3 billion (US$500 million) in consolidated sales last month, an increase of 52 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
However, the figure is 9.9 percent lower than its June sales of NT$18.1 billion, the statement said, without elaborating.
The company yesterday also denied news reports that it plans to shutter its plant in Germany.
"We announced plans to trim our workforce in Germany on July 10, but we have no plan to shutter our German plant or cut salaries because in Germany, that requires approval from the trade union," a BenQ press officer said on condition of anonymity.
■ NT dollar edges up
The New Taiwan dollar traded higher against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.191 to close at NT$32.586 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$1.128 billion.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
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
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
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