■ TAIEX posts modest gain
Shares closed 0.49 percent higher yesterday, but profit-taking capped earlier gains driven by technology stock gains on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 35.92 points at 7,384.69, on expanded turnover of NT$123.43 billion (US$3.76 billion).
Risers led decliners 695 to 478, with 192 stocks unchanged.
■ Foundation blasts Land Bank
The Consumers' Foundation (消基會) yesterday criticized the Lank Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) for violating regulations and depriving consumers of their rights.
Consumers complained that when they applied for the state-run bank's combo cards, which offer multiple functions such as cash withdrawal and credit and cash advances, they were required to give up a five-day period designed for applicants to peruse the contract.
As the contract-examining requirement is a compulsory regulation, the bank's employees even demanded that applicants fill in an earlier date on the application form to bypass the law.
Foundation chairman Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said that the bank had violated Article 11-1 of the Consumer Protection Law (消費者保護法) and the foundation would demand that the bank amend its procedure as soon as possible.
■ Hon Hai fined for defamation
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday fined Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) NT$1.56 million (US$47,575) for defaming a smaller rival on a Web site.
The commission said in a press statement that the nation's largest electronics company by sales improperly accused Lotes Co (嘉澤端子) of piracy, stealing Hon Hai's patents and malicious competition on the Market Observation Post System established by Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp between June 24 and Nov. 7 last year.
As Hon Hai's lawsuit against Lotes have not yet been finalized, its improper accusations have violated Article 24 of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), the commission said.
■ China Steel raises prices
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation's largest steelmaker, will raise domestic steel prices by an average of 0.6 percent in the first quarter, the smallest quarterly rise in a year.
The prices of bars and wire rods will increase by NT$300 (US$9) per tonne and those of electrical sheets by NT$1,000 from Jan. 1, China Steel said in a statement yesterday. The prices of five other products, including cold-rolled steel, used to make automobiles and household appliances, will remain unchanged.
The average increase is the smallest since the first quarter this year, when the Taiwanese company cut charges for six products.
■ Average monthly pay up
Average monthly compensation in the industrial and service sectors reached NT$36,052 (US$1,103) in the first three quarters of the year, up 1.27 percent over the same period last year, according to tallies released on Wednesday by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).
The figure represents the highest level for the same period over the past five years, DGBAS officials said.
After taking into consideration a 0.83 percent rise in the consumer price index during the period, real regular monthly earnings per employee in the two sectors averaged NT$34,647, up 0.43 percent year-on-year, the officials said.
■ NT dollar edges up
The New Taiwan dollar stayed firm against its US counterpart yesterday amid a rising yen and foreign fund inflows. It rose NT$0.022 to close at NT$32.790 on the Taipei Forex Inc on turnover of US$900 million.
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