TAIEX passes 8,000 points
Share prices closed above 8,000 points yesterday after moving up 1.2 percent as the second round of negotiations on a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) entered its final day.
China-concept and construction shares led the TAIEX’s rise, gaining 93.03 points to close at 8,013.09.
The bourse opened at a low of 7,952.62 and hit a high of 8,026.06 during the day’s trading. Turnover totaled NT$138.42 billion (US$4.34 billion).
Gainers outnumbered losers 2,027 to 1,071, with 325 stocks remaining unchanged.
Institutional investors were on the buy side, with foreign investors and Chinese qualified domestic institutional investors making net purchases of NT$17.11 billion in shares.
US probes Apple’s HTC lawsuit
A US trade agency said it would investigate Apple Inc’s patent-infringement claims against Taiwan’s HTC Corp (宏達電) to determine if its phones using Google Inc’s Android operating system should be banned from the US.
Apple says HTC phones infringe on 10 patents related to the implementation of the operating system. It filed the complaint last month with the US International Trade Commission (USITC) in Washington.
“By instituting this investigation, the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case,” the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
US investigates HP complaint
The US International Trade Commission said on Wednesday it had begun an investigation into Hewlett-Packard Co’s (HP) patent-infringement claims against Taiwanese ink-cartridge maker MicroJet Technology Co (研能科技) and four other companies.
HP is seeking to block imports of HP-compatible color ink cartridges, saying they are using HP inventions without permission.
Companies that sell the MicroJet cartridges made in Taiwan were also included in the investigation.
Those companies are Mipo Technology Ltd (麥普科技) of Hong Kong and its related MexTec of Miami, SinoTime Technologies of Miami and PTC Holdings Ltd of Hong Kong, the complaint said.
HSBC Taiwan to open in May
HSBC yesterday said its locally incorporated entity — HSBC Bank (Taiwan) Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) — would begin operations on May 1 with headquarters in Taipei.
The subsidiary will enhance its local presence, supporting its growth strategies for capturing more business opportunities in Greater China and emerging markets, the bank said in a press statement.
Company president and chief executive officer Nicholas Winsor reiterated in the statement that the bank’s local incorporation would increase its direct participation in the domestic market.
Formosa favors LPG
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化), the nation’s only publicly traded oil refiner, plans to alter its ethylene plants to enable them to use more liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) instead of naphtha.
The company will complete adjustments at the plants by the end of this year, after which lower-cost LPG would account for a maximum of 30 percent of feedstock requirements, compared with 15 percent currently, Lin Keh-yen (林克彥), a company spokesman, said by telephone yesterday.
New Taiwan dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.031 to close at NT$31.788. Turnover was US$760 million.
Handset camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) on Sunday reported a 6.71 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter, despite revenue last month hitting the highest level in 11 months. Third-quarter revenue was NT$17.68 billion (US$581.2 million), compared with NT$18.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The figure was in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$17.9 billion, but missed the market consensus estimate of NT$18.97 billion. The third-quarter revenue was a 51.44 percent increase from NT$11.67 billion in the second quarter, as the quarter is usually the peak
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
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