TAIEX retreats 0.18 percent
Taiwanese share prices edged lower yesterday, with the weighted index losing 10.87 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 5,875.24, snapping three days of gains.
A total of 6.05 billion shares changed hands on turnover of NT$130.2 billion (US$3.9 billion).
Losers outnumbered gainers 1,252 to 916, with 141 stocks unchanged.
The TAIEX has risen sharply from a low of 4,242.61 points recorded on Jan. 20, making it the second-strongest market in the world, behind only the Shanghai stock market.
FSC fines Nan Shan Life
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) NT$3 million (US$88,7) for negligence and a lack of oversight.
The firm, a local subsidiary of the financially troubled American International Group Inc (AIG), was also banned from hiring new employees after several staffers were found to have used unfair practices when selling insurance policies.
Their supervisor was discharged from management duties, the FSC said, adding that the violation affected 96 victims.
Taiyo to buy stake in Hontai
Japan’s Taiyo Life Insurance Co plans to buy a 13.5 percent stake in Taiwan’s Hontai Life Insurance Co (宏泰人壽) for about NT$5 billion, or NT$13 to NT$14 per share, through a private placement, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday.
The newspaper said Taiyo and Hontai would announce the deal on Tuesday at the earliest, without citing sources.
Taiwan boutique opens
The nation’s largest trade promotion agency opened its first Taiwan-themed boutique and souvenir shop at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) yesterday, with the aim of advertising Taiwanese culture to the millions of foreign exhibitors and buyers that come to the country every year.
Each year TWTC attracts between 3 million and 4 million visitors, who come to Taiwan for various types of conventions, Walter Yeh (葉明水), executive vice president of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (外貿協會), said at an opening ceremony.
Yeh said the shop, called “taiwanlook,” would not only sell cultural and creative souvenirs, but would also occasionally launch limited edition products on different convention themes.
Recreation business booms
Business at the nation’s theme parks and resorts grew significantly in the first quarter of this year, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday, attributing the growth to the government’s consumer voucher program and other promotion efforts.
The latest statistics provided by 24 amusement parks and resorts showed that the number of visitors in the first quarter grew 26.2 percent from the same period last year, the bureau said.
A total of 2.23 million people visited these venues in the first quarter, generating revenues of NT$1.34 billion (US$39.66 million), up 12.2 percent from the same period last year, the data showed.
The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村) in Nantou County, LeoFoo Village Theme Park (六福村) in Hsinchu County, Janfusun Fancy World (劍湖山世界) in Yunlin County, Window on China Theme Park (小人國) in Taoyuan County and Hualien Farglory Ocean Park (花蓮遠雄海洋公園) were the five most popular amusement parks, the bureau said.
NT dollar edges up
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.004 to close at NT$33.820. Turnover was US$522 million.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last