Stocks rose the most in more than three years yesterday as Cathay Financial Holding Co (
"The Fed emerged as the cavalier in financial market turmoil and investors cheered by putting their money back into markets," said Yin Nai-yun, who oversees US$172 million at Prudential Securities Investment Trust Enterprise in Taipei.
The TAIEX index jumped 425.31, or 5.3 percent, to close at 8,515.60 in Taipei, its biggest gain since May 2004. The index dropped 9.4 percent last week, its worst since March 2004. All but 19 of the 651 stocks traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange advanced yesterday. Futures due in next month surged 6.9 percent to 8,428.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Cathay Financial Holding Co, the nation's largest life insurer, climbed NT$4.90, or 7 percent, to NT$75. Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the largest oil refiner by value, advanced NT$4.40, or 5.2 percent, to NT$89.40.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) , the world's biggest supplier of made-to-order chips, added NT$3.20, or 5.4 percent, to NT$62.20.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained the most in four years on Friday in the US after the Fed reduced the interest rate it charges banks to 5.75 percent at an unscheduled meeting.
The Fed also acknowledged for the first time that a policy shift is needed in order to limit credit market losses.
The central bank may refrain from raising interest rates at a meeting next month after the Fed unexpectedly lowered its discount rate in order to contain the subprime mortgage problem, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported on Saturday, citing statements by unidentified government officials.
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation's largest steelmaker, rose NT$2.60, or 6.9 percent, to NT$40.10.
The steelmaker's profit this year may top NT$60 billion as demand for the metal looks to be "OK" for the second half of the year, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported, citing China Steel Corp chairman Lin Wen-yuan.
Taishin Financial Holdings Co (
Aegon NV, the second-largest Dutch insurer, may buy shares of Taishin, Taishin's chief financial officer Carol Lai (
Aegon will buy shares in Taishin by the end of this year "if possible," she said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the nation's biggest electronics company, gained NT$17, or 6.9 percent, to NT$263.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six