Shares closed 0.69 percent lower yesterday in reduced turnover as investors took note of declines on Wall Street overnight after the release of US data showing strong house sales last month dampened hopes of an interest-rate cut, dealers said.
They said technical concerns outweighed gains in the local currency, with investors continuing their cautious approach.
The TAIEX closed down 56.44 points at 8,159.97 on turnover of NT$95.18 billion (US$2.86 billion).
Decliners outnumbered advancers 705 to 396, with 229 stocks unchanged.
For the week to Friday, the weighted index closed up 125.83 points or 1.57 percent after closing little changed the previous week.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$106.42 billion, up from NT$77.37 billion.
JPMorgan Chase & Co raised its forecast for Taiwan's stocks, citing "reduced downside risk" following first quarter earnings reports.
The TAIEX index could rise to 8,600 by the end of this year, JPMorgan analysts Bernard Liu, Raymond Hung and Arian Mowat wrote in a report on Thursday.
JPMorgan had earlier forecast that the TAIEX would reach 8,000 this year.
"Following the first quarter results, consensus estimates for 2007 seem to have stabilized, which eases our concerns over further downside risk to earnings," JPMorgan analysts said in the report.
Companies listed in the index will post a 22 percent earnings increase next year and their average valuation against estimated future earnings is 13.1, below a historical median of 14, the analysts said.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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