TAIEX gains on Wal-Mart news
Stocks gained 215.72, or 2.5 percent, to close at 8,942.93 yesterday as exporters such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海精密) rose after earnings at Wal-Mart Stores Inc boosted confidence in the outlook for the US economy.
Stocks also advanced after Goldman Sachs Group Inc chief executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said his company doesn't plan any significant writedowns on mortgage-related assets, boosting optimism the US subprime crisis may be contained.
Only 48 of the 648 stocks traded on the TAIEX did not advance yesterday.
Hon Hai, the nation's largest electronics company, climbed NT$7, or 3.5 percent, to NT$210 (US$6.51). Hon Hai assembles iPods for Apple Inc. Mediatek Inc (聯發科), the world's largest supplier of chips for DVD players, added NT$26, or 5.2 percent, to NT$527.
Yahoo settles lawsuit
Yahoo Inc, reeling from a growing backlash over human rights and its China operations, settled a lawsuit that accused it of illegally helping the Chinese government jail and torture two journalists.
Neither side disclosed details on Tuesday other than to agree Yahoo would pay the attorneys fees of Shi Tao (師濤) and Wang Xiaoning (王小寧) and the family member who sued on their behalf. Yahoo also said it would "provide financial, humanitarian and legal support to these families."
The settlement has reopened debate over Internet companies cooperating with governments that deny freedom of speech and crack down on journalists.
HK stocks rise 3.68 percent
Hong Kong stocks rose sharply yesterday morning on lower oil prices and easing fears about the credit crisis in the US. An overnight rally on Wall Street also boosted investor confidence.
The blue-chip Hang Seng Index closed the morning session up 1,023.63 points, or 3.68 percent, at 28,826.98.
Trade has been volatile over the past few weeks as investors react to news about a plan to allow mainland Chinese to invest directly in Hong Kong, new listings of mainland companies and concerns over the US economy.
China Mobile (中國移動通訊) led yesterday's gains on news it was in talks with Apple Inc about bringing the iPhone to China. It closed the morning session up 6.59 percent at HK$137.4.
Trading volume would be the key to whether the market is back to its bull run, said local analysts.
Premier calls for monitoring
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday instructed Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) to monitor fluctuations in the stock market and their impact on the country's economy, The recent subprime mortgage financial crisis in the US, continuous depreciation of the US dollar, soaring oil prices in the international market and the strengthening of China's economic controls were among the factors that are influencing global stock markets, Chang said.
The Taipei Weighted Stock Index slid 10.1 percent in a month, lower than a 13.6 percent decline in the Chinese Stock market and a 12.9 percent decline in the Hang Seng Index, while higher than a fall of 9.6 percent, 9.2 percent, and 6.4 percent respectively in Nikkei, Strait Times Index-Singapore, and South Korea-Stock Index, Chang said.
The premier called on the public to keep their confidence in Taipei stock, citing that the country's current economic fundamentals are fairly good.
NT dollar gains
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday gained slightly by NT$0.011 to close at NT$32.288 against the greenback on turnover of US$1.062 billion.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”