TAIEX buoyed by liquidity
Share prices closed up 0.47 percent yesterday amid ample liquidity, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 36.22 points to 7,751.32 on turnover of NT$111.6 billion (US$3.45 billion).
The market opened slightly lower, reflecting falls on Wall Street at the end of last week, but high liquidity encouraged investors to pick up stocks, dealers said.
In particular, investors focused on old economy firms given their relatively cheap valuations to boost the broader market, they said.
“I suspect the buying came from foreign institutional investors after they have brought in large funds” to Taiwan recently, President Securities (統一證券) analyst Steven Huang said.
Huang added, however, that “daily turnover remained low, indicating many investors took to the sidelines.”
“The market is expected to move in a narrow range in the short term,” he said.
Compal raises sales forecast
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), which became the world’s largest manufacturer of laptops by shipments last quarter, raised its full-year forecast after posting record sales last month.
“Demand from Europe is very strong,” Gary Lu (呂清雄), chief financial officer of Taipei-based Compal said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Compal will pass its earlier 32 million to 35 million units forecast and may surpass 36 million units, he said.
Foxconn denies Chengdu plans
Foxconn International Holdings Ltd (富士康) denied a Hong Kong Economic Journal report yesterday that it would invest US$1 billion in a factory in Chengdu.
Vincent Tong, spokesman for Shenzhen, China-based Foxconn International, said he was not aware of any reason for the rise in the firm’s share price yesterday.
Foxconn’s investment will consist of production lines to make LED televisions and liquid-crystal display modules, the Hong Kong-based Chinese-language newspaper said yesterday, without saying where it got the information.
Edmund Ding (丁祈安), spokesman for Foxconn parent Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), said on Saturday his firm would invest US$1 billion in Chengdu.
PRC issues anti-dumping rule
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday issued a preliminary anti-dumping ruling against companies from the US, Europe, Russia and Taiwan, accusing them of selling the following chemical fibers — Polycaprolactam, Polyamide-6 or Nylon6 — at below cost in the Chinese market.
The companies included BASF Corp, Honeywell Resins & Chemical LLC and Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corp (台灣化纖).
Corning hit by power outage
Corning Inc, the world’s biggest supplier of mother glasses, said yesterday that a plant in central Taiwan experienced a power disruption over the weekend.
The incident came amid tight supply of mother glasses since the second quarter as demand for flat panels picked up at a faster-than-expected rate.
Corning declined to comment on whether the power outage had disrupted production at the plant, which supplies 5.5-generation or bigger glasses, mainly for local liquid-crystal-display panel makers, including AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電).
“We are assessing the impact that the power outage may have on glass-making operations. We have a team of experts working on this and will provide an update when more information is available,” Corning said in a press release.
AUO said it was still waiting for more information from Corning and might resort to other suppliers if needed.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI