Shares fall ahead of meeting
Shares fell yesterday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates this week.
The TAIEX dropped 131.72 points, or 1.46 percent, to 8,899.91, on turnover of NT$108.17 billion (US$3.27 billion).
Foreign investors were selling before the Fed's meeting today, said Randy Chang of KGI Securities Co (中信證券).
Leading tech shares turned in weak performances. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) fell 1.6 percent to NT$60.80. Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體) dropped 2.3 percent to NT$31.50.
On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart, hitting a one-month low due to foreign capital outflows, dealers said.
The NT dollar fell NT$0.039 to close at NT$33.110 on the Taipei Forex Inc, on turnover of US$536 million.
Uni-President hits record high
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), the nation's biggest processed-food maker, climbed to a record in Taipei on expectations that earnings from China will rise.
The Tainan-based maker of instant noodles and drinks rose 4.4 percent to NT$41.45. The stock's previous record close was NT$39.70 on Friday.
Uni-President operates plants in China making instant noodles, soft drinks and other products.
Uni-President shares gained on expectations a plan to spin off China operations may bolster earnings, said Alan Tseng (曾炎裕), a Taipei-based analyst with Capital Securities Corp (群益證券), who has a "buy" rating on the stock.
Shenhua share sale approved
Shenhua Energy Co (神華能源), China's biggest coal producer, won permission from the Chinese stock market regulator to sell as many as 1.8 billion shares in Shanghai.
Shenhua Energy's application to sell yuan-denominated A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was approved, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
AIG to invest in new fund
AIG Global Asset Management (友邦投信) plans to invest up to NT$5 billion in a new fund targeting Taiwan stocks, Reuters reported yesterday, citing Jim Chang (張一明), president of AIG Global.
AIG Global is a local investment arm of American International Group Inc, the world's largest insurer.
AIG Global has applied with financial regulators for the setup of the new fund, which is expected to raise between NT$3 billion and NT$5 billion and will start investing in local stocks at the end of the year, the report said.
Korean delegation due today
A delegation from the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) is scheduled to arrive in Taipei today to hold procurement meetings with local manufacturers and suppliers, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said yesterday.
According to a TAITRA official, the delegation is comprised of more than 10 importers dealing in machinery and electronics, medical instruments, chemicals, water treatment systems, building materials, solar energy systems, foodstuffs and optical products.
In addition to face-to-face procurement consultations, the official said, the delegation will also organize a symposium on the investment climate of the Incheon Free Trade Zone and will invite Taiwanese manufacturers to take part in this year's Imported Goods Fair in South Korea.
Official statistics show that two-way trade exchanges between Taiwan and South Korea have been growing steadily over the years, with the trade volume for the first five months of this year rising 6.87 percent year-on-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],”
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained