TAIEX closes higher
The TAIEX closed up 0.33 percent yesterday as non-high-tech stocks staged a technical rebound from losses incurred in the previous session, while the bellwether electronics sector remained lackluster, dealers said.
The market opened flat following an overnight fall on Wall Street ahead of US non-farm payroll data due yesterday, but buying in select old economy stocks gathered pace during the session, dealers said.
The TAIEX rose 26.45 points to 7,963.30, after moving between 7,829.19 and 8,018.74 on turnover of NT$115.96 billion (US$3.65 billion).
A total of 1,729 stocks closed up and 1,723 were down, with 286 remaining unchanged.
MOEA negotiators in Japan
Trade negotiators from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) are currently visiting Japan and have started talks with Japanese economic and trade officials with the aim of promoting enhanced economic and trade integration between the two countries, an economic official said yesterday.
Since signing the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China, Taiwan has started talks with Singapore on an economic cooperation agreement, as well as engaging in ongoing negotiations with Japan on a bilateral investment guarantee agreement, according to the official.
Chimei ups China investment
Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), Taiwan’s largest LCD panel maker, said it will boost investment in China by US$370 million. The company will invest US$100 million in its Chinese subsidiary Nan Hai Chi Mei Electronics Ltd (南海奇美光電), which makes display modules and touch panels.
It will also increase investment in NingBo Chi Mei Optoelectronics Ltd (寧波奇美光電) focused on the assembly and sale of modules by US$95 million, with US$65 million invested in NingBo Chi Mei Electronics Ltd (寧波奇美電子) will be used to develop, manufacture, warehouse and sell display modules and touch panels. Chimei Innolux will also raise investments in Chengdu, Xiamen, Nanjing and Shanghai, the company said in separate exchange filings yesterday.
Companies join green program
Nineteen Taiwanese companies in industries ranging from telecoms and communications, to commodities and household appliances, volunteered to join a government energy-saving and carbon reduction program starting on Monday, the Bureau of Energy said yesterday.
The bureau said the program aims to increase voluntary energy saving by 5 percent over a year, saving 52.65 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 33,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
To encourage participants, the bureau will award companies involved certificates as part of a program to create a positive image for energy-saving enterprises and spread the idea of carbon emissions reduction.
Foreign reserves reach high
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high of US$370.11 billion at the end of last month, up US$7.73 billion from the previous month, the central bank reported on Thursday.
In addition to returns on foreign exchange reserve investments, the appreciation of the euro and other major currencies held by the central bank contributed largely to the increase.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$362.38 billion in June, which put it in fourth place worldwide.
NT dollar closes higher
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, up NT$0.031 to close at NT$31.819. Turnover was US$569 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
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group