Hon Hai to expand investments
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, plans to raise its investment in China by more than US$350 million, the company said in a series of filings to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
An US$80 million investment in Hongfujin Precision Electronics (Chengdu) Co (鴻富錦精密) will be for making tablet computers, it said in one of the filings. Other investments will be in Shenzhen, Zhengzhou and Huian for facilities to manufacture mobile phones, computers and components, and printed circuit boards, it said in other filings.
Nan Ya HK sells bonds
Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s (南亞塑膠) Hong Kong unit has sold US$400 million in five-year bonds to help pay off long-term debts and improve its financial structure, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The bonds will pay an interest rate of 0.8 percentage points more than the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate, the company said.
Hot money boosts confidence
The inflow of hot money to Asian markets boosted regional investor confidence last quarter, although Taiwanese investors remained the most conservative across the Greater China area, a survey by ING Asia Pacific, the global financial services firm, showed yesterday.
The Pan-Asia index rose to 146 last quarter, setting not only a new high for this year but also the second-highest since the 2007 survey because of the inflow of hot money and as concern over Europe’s debt crisis eased off, the survey said.
The Taiwanese index bounced back slightly to 136 last quarter, showing the smallest growth across Greater China and less optimism for the recovery extending into the current quarter, the survey said.
“Taiwan investors are tinged with caution as the growth momentum seems to slow in the fourth quarter,” the survey said, adding that the year-end elections and the cross-strait trade meeting might add uncertainty to the market.
The Greater China index outperformed the Pan-Asia gauge, with Hong Kong showing the largest increase.
Bank sells NT$49.8bn in CDs
The central bank issued NT$49.8 billion (US$1.61 billion) in certificates of deposit (CDs) yesterday, more than the NT$16 billion that matured, the bank said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The central bank sold 30-day CDs at an interest rate of 0.69 percent, 91-day CDs at 0.73 percent and 182-day CDs at 0.83 percent, according to its Web site.
Banks offer yuan settlement
The state-run Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) and Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀) have received approval from the central bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission to conduct Chinese yuan settlement, the two lenders said in a joint statement yesterday.
The two lenders will begin to take orders from domestic financial institutions today and supply the Chinese currency from Oct. 26, the statement said.
TAIEX falls on slow trading
The TAIEX closed down 0.17 percent in thin trading yesterday as profit taking continued to drag down old economy stocks despite a rally on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 14.31 points to 8,046.23, after moving between 8,018.31 and 8,074.68, on turnover of NT$87.74 billion.
The paper and pulp sector saw the biggest drop, falling 1.42 percent. Textiles fell 1.12 percent, food shed 1.02 percent, cement dropped 0.95 percent, and plastics and chemicals slid 0.43 percent.
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last