MSCI announces index changes
Index compiler Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Barra yesterday announced changes to the MSCI Global Investable Market Value and Growth Indices starting next month.
Global investors usually track MSCI indexes to make necessary adjustments in their investment portfolios.
In its latest quarterly index review, which was revealed in a press release yesterday, MSCI Barra announced no changes of Taiwanese stocks in its index series.
In the Asia-Pacific region, only China's Country Garden Holdings (碧桂園控股) was added into the MSCI index series, while Transmile Group (金鵬集團) from Malaysia will be deleted, the statement said.
Still, after the quarterly index adjustment, Taiwan's weighting decreases to 18.07 percent from 18.16 percent, South Korea's weighting drops to 23.99 percent from 24.16 percent, and China's weighting increases to 19.67 percent from 19.11 percent.
Investments top NT$880m
The nation has attracted 885 investments this year worth NT$881.62 billion (US$26.7 million) as of the end of last month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement yesterday. The figure is 87.59 percent of the NT$1.01 trillion goal for this year, up from NT$903.2 billion last year, the ministry said.
The investments were mainly in the manufacturing industry as usual, the statement said. Foreign investment in high-end manufacturing will especially increase in the future, it said.
The government is also keen to invite foreign enterprises to set up research and development centers to help upgrade local industries. For this year, the ministry plans to approve more than five applications for research and development centers, it said.
The centers, which the ministry expects to carry out more than 60 projects and transfer 30 technologies to local companies, are expected to inject US$500 million in Taiwan, the ministry said.
UMC shuffles vice chairman
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world's second-largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said vice chairman Peter Chang (張崇德) would leave his post as part of a broader restructuring of its management team as it struggles to cope with the challenges of the semiconductor industry.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker will hire Chang, 61, as a senior consultant after he leaves the job he served for six years.
UMC yesterday promoted executive vice president Sun Shih-wei (孫世偉) to a newly created position, chief operating official,supervising operations at 12-inch chip plants. Vice president Chen Wen-yang (陳文洋) was promoted to senior vice president in charge of 8-inch and 6-inch chip factories.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar rose by the most in more than a year on speculation the central bank was buying the currency.
The local currency's advance yesterday erased the week's losses. A weaker NT dollar, down 1.3 percent this year, is boosting inflation and the cost of imported goods.
"It's quite possible there's been some central bank action, as they're trying to keep a lid on it," said Sean Callow, senior foreign-exchange strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Singapore. "They also don't want the Taiwan dollar simply to be a one-way bet of depreciation."
The NT dollar surged NT$0.197 or 0.6 percent yesterday, the most since June 30 last year. The currency rose 0.1 percent during the week to NT$32.931, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
Turnover was US$1.055 billion yesterday, compared with US$1.26 billion the previous session.
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