TAIEX down 0.83 percent
The TAIEX closed down 0.83 percent yesterday after a plunge on Wall Street overnight amid concerns over the global economy.
However, the downside was limited as bargain hunting emerged, recouping some of the earlier losses, dealers said.
The index fell 65.24 points to 7,829.79, after moving between 7,776.66 and 7,837.38 on turnover of NT$115.54 billion (US$3.63 billion). The market opened down 1.34 percent in reaction to a 2.5 percent dive of the Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight, with selling focusing on the high tech sector based on lingering fears of slower demand, dealers said.
However, after the index fell below the technical support level of 7,800 points, some buying emerged to take advantage of the low valuation of the broader market after recent losses, they said.
A total of 2,119 stocks closed down and 1,471 up, while 270 remained unchanged.
Guaranteed deposits raised
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday raised the limit to the amount of savings deposits that are guaranteed should a bank fail to NT$3 million from NT$1.5 million, starting Jan. 1 of next year.
The change came as the full guarantee, due to expire at the end of this year, is no longer merited after the nation’s banking sector emerged unscathed from the global financial crisis, the commission said in a statement.
The sector’s bad loan and coverage ratios stood at 0.91 percent and 113.38 percent respectively at the end of June, showing no need for liquidity, the commission said.
Creative center deal signed
A consortium led by Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Co Ltd (永豐餘) and Yuan-Liou Publishing Co (遠流出版) signed a deal with the Council for Cultural Affairs on Wednesday to run a build, operate, transfer project for the Hua Shan Creative Park (華山創意文化園區)’s Flagship Center.
The consortium plans to fund NT$1.5 billion (US$47 million) within three years to build the Taipei flagship center, which is earmarked by the council as the strategic venue for Taiwan’s cultural and creativity activities.
The new center will span 10 stories and occupy 10,000 pings (33,000m2), and focus on promoting Taiwan’s brands, local productions and performances.
Sinopac allies with ICBC
SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券) said yesterday it has signed an agreement with ICBC International Holdings Ltd (工銀國際控股), which is 100 percent owned by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行), to set up a strategic alliance for future business cooperation.
SinoPac became the first Taiwanese securities company to team up with a Chinese financial institution to boost its international business.
ICBC International, which is based in Hong Kong, is ICBC’s only investment banking arm outside China and has more than 20,000 customers.
The two partners will cooperate in businesses ranging from mergers and acquisitions to business information exchanges.
AU Optronics fighting charges
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) will defend itself against charges of alleged price fixing filed by Florida, Illinois, and other US states, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The LCD maker said it has hired legal counsel for the case.
NT dollar falls NT$0.11
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.11 to close at NT$31.990. Turnover was US$778 million during the trading session.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the