Shares close lower
Taiwan’s benchmark stock index closed 0.78 percent lower yesterday as investors pocketed significant recent gains with an eye on the market’s movement toward the nearest technical resistance at around 8,200 points, dealers said.
The TAIEX index fell 64.07 points to the day’s low of 8,099.75, off a high of 8,182.80, on turnover of NT$132.16 billion (US$4.16 billion).
The market opened 0.14 percent higher and continued to climb until profit-taking pressure emerged, focusing on select high tech and financial stocks, which reversed the early gains, dealers said.
A total of 2,347 stocks closed down and 1,381 up, while 344 remained unchanged.
Yieh Phui secures loan
Yieh Phui Enterprise Co (燁輝), Taiwan’s largest manufacturer of galvanized steel, said yesterday it had secured a five-year, NT$3 billion syndicated loan from seven local banks.
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行), the lead arranger of the loan, provided NT$650 million, while Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) served as co-arrangers, each putting up NT$500 million.
The company will use the loan to repay short-term debts, which will mature in one year, and to improve its financial structure. The company has a total of NT$17 billion in loans. Its total debt to total asset ratio stands at 39 percent.
Citibank expects growth
Citibank Taiwan Ltd (台灣花旗) said yesterday it expected all product groups to increase by 15 percent to 20 percent this year, outperforming the average market growth at 10 percent, after operating income rose 64 percent from the first seven months.
Stephen Bird, chief executive officer of Citi Asia Pacific, said in Taipei the company would continue to expand its local staff as part of its effort to increase its presence in the Greater China area.
“I’m confident in achieving the goal given the excellent colleagues and the macro-economic environment,” Bird said. Citigroup posted a net income of US$7.1 billion in the first half with the Asia Pacific region contributing around 37 percent, he said.
No action against Hsu: FSC
The Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday it would not take action against Global Life Insurance Co (國寶人壽) vice chairman Hsu Shu-po (許舒博) unless it receives a corruption verdict against him in black and white.
Hsu, who won the chairmanship of the Life Insurance Association last month, was recently found guilty by the Taiwan High Court of taking money from an interest group as a legislator years ago.
The financial regulator said it has yet to hear of any leadership reshuffle plan from the insurer and that the insurance association falls outside its jurisdiction.
HannStar shows touch panels
LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) on Wednesday showcased new touch panel modules for smartphones, tablet devices and all-in-one desktop computers in cooperation with subsidiary Sintek Photronic Corp (和鑫光電) in China.
HannStar is supplying 5-inch, 7-inch and 10-inch touch panel modules to notebook computer maker Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) and Chinese e-reader maker Hanvon Technology Co (漢王科技), the panel maker said in a statement.
HannStar also said it was scheduled to launch tablet devices under its HannSpree brand in Europe.
NT dollar falls against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.002 to close at NT$31.800. Turnover was US$636 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