■ TAIEX up 5.59 points
Share prices closed flat yesterday as profit-taking eroded early gains made on the back of Wall Street's overnight rally, dealers said.
They said year-end window-dressing activities continued to support the local bourse while there appeared to be no immediate impact from the strong earthquake that struck Taiwan on Tuesday evening.
Although some complaints were voiced about difficulties accessing the Internet, dealers said trade was largely unaffected.
The TAIEX closed up 5.59 points at 7,733.18, on turnover of NT$107.51 billion (US$3.29 billion). Decliners led gainers 654 to 516, with 185 stocks unchanged.
■ Gas prices lowered
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑), the nation's second-biggest fuel supplier, lowered gasoline prices for the second time this month, matching a move by rival Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油).
Domestic wholesale gasoline prices fell by NT$0.10 a liter, effective 9am, Mailiao-based Formosa Petrochemical said in a statement yesterday on its Web site.
■ Biomedical park under way
A biomedical park within Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) will be inaugurated in January 2008, officials from the Science Park Administration said yesterday.
Administration officials said the infrastructure for the biomedical park was currently being put in place, adding that the work was scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
The park will mainly serve companies in the medical equipment and manufacturing sectors.
An international vaccine producer and a pharmaceutical protein manufacturer have contacted the administration about setting up plants in the park.
■ Fubon not to buy stakes
Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) are not in talks to buy stakes in Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), a Chinatrust executive said yesterday, denying a media report.
"Again it's newspaper speculation," Chinatrust executive vice president Jason Wang (王正新) said in a telephone interview.
The Economic Daily News reported that Goldman might join with Fubon to buy part of Chinatrust, but did not cite any source.
Fubon also denied the report.
"There is no such talk, and Goldman didn't approach Fubon," Fubon president Victor Kung (龔天行) said in a phone interview.
Kung said that Fubon had bought some financial shares because of the improving profit outlook for banks. He didn't specify what stocks Fubon had purchased.
■ Evergreen promotes president
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), operator of Asia's largest container shipping line, will promote president Arnold Wang (王龍雄) to chairman, replacing Chang Kuo-cheng (張國政).
Starting on Monday, Chang will become the first vice chairman of the Evergreen Group, parent of the shipping company, the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
Chang will answer to his father Chang Yung-fa (張榮發), chairman and founder of the Taipei-based group, which controls EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), the country's second-biggest air carrier. Other interests of the group include hotels and a symphony orchestra.
■ NT dollar down
The NT dollar traded lower against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.049 to close at NT$32.699 on the Taipei Forex Inc.
Traders said the NT dollar didn't follow gains of other Asian currencies because the trading system was not stable after Tuesday's earthquakes.
Turnover was US$585 million, up from US$476 million the previous day.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last