Shares close higher
Share prices closed higher yesterday, with the TAIEX index moving up 67.4 points, or 0.83 percent, to close at 8,097.13.
The local bourse opened at 8,077.97 and fluctuated between 8,040.01 and 8,102.38 during the day’s trading. Market turnover totaled NT$98.04 billion (US$3.12 billion).
Gainers outnumbered losers 1,894 to 1,139, with 338 stocks remaining unchanged.
Foreign investors and Chinese qualified domestic institutional investors were net buyers of NT$5.99 billion in shares.
Lush to close doors
Consumers yesterday flocked to the Lush outlet on Zhongxiao E Road, fighting to grab their favorite handmade soaps, shower gels or facial masks at a 50 percent discount, as the local franchisee is closing all 28 outlets in Taiwan because of financial issues.
Lush, which entered the local market in 2001 on a franchising model, is a British brand touting fresh handmade cosmetics and has around 350 shops around the world, its Web site said.
Its franchisee in Taiwan is reportedly facing huge debts and is apparently on the run, telling company staff to sell off remaining products to recover their pay.
Company staff, who didn’t get their pay last month, sold products at half price yesterday to generate money for their salaries.
IT spending to rise 5.3%
Global spending on information technology will increase 5.3 percent to US$3.4 trillion this year, led by individual and household purchases, Gartner Inc said.
In constant currency, the growth will be 1.6 percent, the market research firm said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.
Mobile personal computers will drive hardware spending, which is predicted to climb to US$353 billion, up 5.7 percent from last year, Gartner said.
Business hardware spending is projected to remain below 2008 levels through 2014, the research firm said.
President profits up 15.3%
President Chain Store Corp. (統一超商), which operates the 7-Eleven convenience store chain in Taiwan, said yesterday its net profit last year rose 15.3 percent to NT$4.06 billion, or NT$3.90 a share, from NT$3.52 billion, or NT$3.38 a share, in 2008.
Revenue slipped 0.4 percent to NT$101.76 billion from NT$102.19 billion, the company said.
China raises fuel prices
China yesterday raised fuel prices for the first time in five months, showing Beijing’s confidence it can control inflation, ahead of the release of data expected to show rapid growth accelerated in the first quarter of the year.
Observers are watching whether growth and inflation data due out today show a need for drastic action to prevent overheating.
The price hikes of 4 percent to 4.5 percent for gasoline, diesel and other fuels, the first since November, were in line with expectations.
NT rises against dollar
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose the most in five weeks on speculation China will soon let the yuan resume appreciation.
The NT dollar rose 0.4 percent to NT$31.460 against its US counterpart as of the 4pm close, Taipei Forex Inc said. That was the biggest gain since March 8.
The currency reached as high as NT$31.419, the strongest level since Aug. 25, 2008.
“There’re funds coming into the stocks,” said Henry Lin, a currency trader a Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行). “With the bets on yuan appreciation, money is flowing to Asian currencies.”
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell sharply against the US dollar to close at its lowest level since May 22 amid a massive outflow of funds from the country because of investors panicking over global equity markets. The NT dollar ended at NT$31.580 against the US dollar, slightly lower than its close of NT$31.568 on May 22, after moving between NT$31.5 and NT$31.648 on combined turnover of US$3.062 billion on the Taipei Foreign Exchange and the Cosmos Foreign Exchange. The NT dollar received a significant hit in the morning session, slumping as much as NT$0.173 at a time when other Asian currencies
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is now ranked ninth among the world’s 100 most valuable companies after its market capitalization more than doubled over the past year, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said in a report last month. TSMC’s market capitalization surged 101 percent year-on-year to US$1.427 trillion as of March 31, the accounting and consulting firm’s 2026 Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalization report said. The gain catapulted the world’s largest contract chipmaker from 12th place to ninth in the rankings, and it was the fastest-growing among the global top 10, it said. TSMC was the only Taiwanese company among the top
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$416.975 billion (US$13.17 billion) for last month, putting the world’s largest contract chipmaker on track to set a record for quarterly revenue. Last month’s figure surpassed March’s record NT$415.19 billion and represented increases of 1.5 percent from April and 30.1 percent from a year earlier. For the first five months of the year, TSMC generated NT$1.96 trillion in revenue, up 30 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. TSMC has forecast second-quarter revenue of between US$39 billion and US$40.2 billion, representing sequential growth of about 10 percent and year-on-year growth of about
RSS