Lyu appointed to Mega job
The Ministry of Finance yesterday appointed former minister without portfolio Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) as the replacement for outgoing Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) chairman Cheng Shen-chih (鄭深池), a ministry statement said.
Lyu will double as chairman of the firm's subsidiary, Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), the statement said.
The ministry also appointed Kaohsiung City Government Finance Bureau chief Ray Dawn (董瑞斌) to be Mega Financial's president and the chairman of subsidiary Mega Bills Finance Co (兆豐票券), the statement said.
Mega's incumbent president, Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才), will move to head Mega Investment Trust Corp (兆豐國際投信), it said.
The three nominations are expected to be approved at the firm's board meeting today.
Election result boosts shares
Taiwan's share prices closed 1.79 percent higher yesterday after a landslide victory by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in weekend parliamentary elections, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 144.10 points at 8,173.41, having traded in a range of 8,260.88 to 8,097.68 on turnover of NT$168.10 billion (US$5.19 billion).
The tourism sector was up 6.92 percent, cement added 6.54 percent, financials rose 5.64 percent, construction was up 5.16 percent, textiles advanced 5.16 percent and transport rose 2.36 percent.
The electronics sector was down 0.79 percent.
The KMT's win raised hopes for better cross-strait economic ties, giving a boost to tourism-related stocks, dealers said.
Frank Lin, senior vice president at Fubon Securities (富邦證券), said investors were willing to build their investments after the KMT's unexpectedly strong showing.
"Investors are pinning their hopes on better cross-strait relations, no matter who wins the presidential election in March," Lin said.
He said that investors expected more Chinese visitors would be given permission to enter Taiwan.
If that materializes, Lin said "it will boost domestic demand not only for hotels, but also for other related services."
An increase in domestic demand would also help increase the value of assets, he added.
Gold hits record in Hong Kong
Hong Kong gold prices yesterday closed above US$900 for the first time as investors search for a safe haven amid fears of a US economic slowdown and stock market turmoil.
The precious metal closed at US$908 an ounce after passing the US$900 mark at around 2:30pm -- up US$15.50 an ounce from Friday's close of US$892.50, dealers said.
The price had broken through the US$900 mark during trading in New York on Friday following a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that was thought to indicate there could be more US interest rate cuts.
Formosa Plastics optimistic
Formosa Plastics Group (台塑), Taiwan's biggest diversified industrial company, expects revenue to rise to a record this year as it expands production.
Revenue will climb from last year's NT$2 trillion (US$62 billion), CEO William Wong (王文淵) told reporters in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County, yesterday, without giving an estimate. Sales last year increased 20 percent from 2006, he said.
Formosa Plastics is expanding output to meet demand for its products from manufacturers that make goods including drinking bottles, toys and garments.
"The market was exceptionally good last year as sales in countries such as Vietnam, the US and China all rose quite a lot," Wong said.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS