Shares close up 0.38 percent
Shares closed 0.38 percent higher yesterday on expectations of a further liquidity-driven upswing as investors shrugged off mixed showings on Wall Street and around the region, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 31.38 points at 8,370.26 on turnover of NT$143.20 billion (US$4.34 billion).
Yesterday's high drew close to the record high of 8,406.05 on July 20, 2000.
Risers led decliners 595 to 500, with 253 stocks unchanged.
Telecoms `ignore' rules
The nation's four major telecommunications services providers failed to abide by government regulations when issuing pre-paid telephone cards, the Consumers' Foundation (消基會) said yesterday.
The pre-paid cards sold by Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and KG Telecommunications Co (和信電訊) expire in six months or 180 days, which the foundation said is against the law.
These firms also refuse to offer refunds to buyers if the cards still have value remaining after the expiration date, the foundation said.
Far EasTone Telecommunications said it scrapped the usage duration restrictions after the new regulations took effect on April 1.
Taiwan Mobile, however, said that six-month restriction was necessary to avoid wasting resources. The restriction has been approved by the National Communications Commission (NCC), it said.
Taipei 101 touts weddings
Taipei 101 yesterday announced plans to tap into the nation's extensive wedding market, estimated at NT$70 billion (US$2.1 billion) a year, by offering "one stop shopping" services that range from making purchases to booking wedding venues.
Those who spend more than NT$500,000 on wedding purchases inside the mall would be given a photo shoot in the building, it said. Purchases of more than NT$1.5 million wold grant wedding couples a rare chance to host their guests on the building's 84th floor in a facility normally only accessible to businesses.
Taipei 101 will provide other custom services to customers who spend over NT$3 million.
Customers will also be able to make marriage proposals by placing their messages on electric signboards outside the world's tallest building, but prices have not been set for the special service, the building's management said.
Laiwu extends Mittal deadline
Chinese steelmaker Laiwu Steel Group has extended a deadline for selling a 38.41 percent stake in its subsidiary Laiwu Steel Corp (萊蕪鋼鐵) to ArcelorMittal while the deal awaits regulatory approval, the two companies said yesterday.
Chinese authorities have given no reason for the delay in deciding on Mittal's purchase. But concern about foreign companies gaining control of Chinese companies has increased amid complaints the country might be selling assets too cheaply.
Laiwu and ArcelorMittal agreed to extend the deadline for the deal to Dec. 31 and again to March 31 next year if the deal appears to be close to completion, a statement posted on the Web site of the Shanghai Stock Exchange said.
NT dollar weakens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday weakened against its US counterpart as importers and insurers bought US dollars, dealers said.
The NT dollar fell NT$0.011 to close at NT$33.020 on the Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$693 million.
The NT dollar has been trading between NT$32.8 and NT$33.1 this month. The local currency lost around 1.3 percent against the greenback since the beginning of the year.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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