Taiwan's stocks gain ground
Taiwan's stocks gained 56.60, or 0.7 percent, to close at 8,727.21 yesterday, rebounding from a two-month low, as Yang Ming Marine Transport (陽明海運) paced advances among shipping companies on expectations of falling fuel costs after a drop in the price of crude oil.
"Cheaper fuel prices certainly is a plus for shipping companies," said Vickie Hsieh (謝雯霞), who oversees US$1.4 billion at President Investment Trust Corp (統一投信). "Investors will now be more comfortable in investing in them."
Yang Ming Marine, the nation's second-largest container-shipping line, rose NT$0.80, or 3.2 percent, to NT$25.80. Evergreen Marine, Taiwan's largest, rose NT$0.10, or 0.4 percent, to NT$26.85.
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) gained NT$2.30, or 2.5 percent, to NT$95.60. The company resumed production at its No. 2 ethylene plant in Mailiao Township (麥寮), which was shut on Sept. 26 for maintenance.
Elsewhere, China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan's largest maker of the alloy, gained NT$1.45, or 3.4 percent, to NT$43.55. China Steel will announce price increases on Thursday next week for products to be shipped in the first quarter, the Wealth News reported, without citing anyone.
Investment in China up 14%
Foreign investment in China rose 14 percent last month from a year ago to US$67.8 billion, the government said yesterday.
That brought total foreign investment for the first 10 months of this year to US$539.9 billion, an 11.5 percent increase over the same period last year, the Chinese ministry of commerce reported.
The figure has climbed steadily despite government curbs on industries such as auto manufacturing and textiles where the number of factories and other assets are believed to exceed demand.
Investment by US entities in new enterprises in China fell 5.9 percent last month, the ministry said.
Securities industry `stable'
Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) gave a stable outlook for the nation's securities industry, citing the sector's adequate liquidity and capitalization, a statement released on Monday showed.
But intense competition and volatile earnings performances are expected to constitute continuing challenges to local securities firms, the ratings agency said.
"Continuing deregulation, enhanced risk management practices, and resources from financial holding company groups will continue to support the stable credit profiles of key domestic securities firms," said Chun Huang (黃俊榮), associate director of Taiwan Ratings' financial services ratings.
"Concentrated revenue sources and growing industry competition pose a risk to the livelihoods of most securities firms but also threaten to marginalize weaker securities firms," he added.
Won falls to monthly low
The South Korean won fell to the lowest in a month on speculation the central bank sold the currency to protect local exporters. Bonds declined.
The won slipped for a second day along with the yen and the yuan. Finance Minister Kwon Okyu (權五奎) this month said the government would buy or sell its currency to curb speculative moves in the foreign-exchange market.
The won fell as much as 1 percent to 920.30 to the US dollar, the weakest since Oct. 11, before closing at 918.70 at 3pm yesterday in Seoul from 911.30, according to Seoul Money Brokerage Services Ltd. Yesterday's decline was the biggest since Aug. 16.
NT dollar weakens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday weakened by NT$0.009 to close at NT$32.299 against the greenback on turnover of US$892 million.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure