TAIEX up on technical rebound
The TAIEX edged up 0.87 percent yesterday on a technical rebound as investors took their cues from Wall Street’s overnight recovery, dealers said.
The benchmark index rose 71.56 points to 8,312.21, after moving between 8,234.22 and 8,324.51, on turnover of NT$86.97 billion (US$2.83 billion).
The market slid 6.43 points at the opening, but bargain-hunting emerged to take advantage of low valuation stocks, notably plastics and construction issues, which were badly hammered the previous day by fears that foreign institutional investors would move funds out of Taiwan, the dealers said.
A total of 2,057 stocks closed up, 1,686 ended down and 395 were unchanged.
US drops suit against TSMC
The US government has dropped an investigation into an alleged patent infringement by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s leading contract chipmaker, the company said yesterday.
This came after the accuser, STC.UNM — the licensing arm of the University of New Mexico — and TSMC filed a joint motion to the US International Trade Commission asking it to terminate the investigation, TSMC said in a statement.
“While TSMC regrets that a case based upon an invalid and unenforceable patent such as STC’s made its way into the courts, TSMC is, however, pleased with the outcome of this case,” TSMC general counsel Richard Thurston said.
The two companies had reached a settlement, TSMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun (孫又文) said, declining to provide details.
Chunghwa plans land sale
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) plans to sell land in Taipei County to Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp for NT$648 million, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
The Taipei-based company expects to book a gain of NT$273 million from the sale, the statement said.
Formosa Oilseed inks loan
Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋油脂) signed a NT$1 billion five-year syndicated loan with nine banks led by Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), the Taipei-based lender said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The funds will be used to replenish midterm working capital.
MOEA sets investment target
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said it aimed to attract NT$1,050 billion in investment from local and foreign enterprises next year.
The ministry said Taiwan’s investment environment had become more attractive thanks to a series of measures, including a business tax cut to 17 percent from 20 percent, the launch of more cross-strait flights, relaxation of regulations governing Chinese travel in Taiwan and the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China.
The ministry expects this year’s total investment to reach NT$1,047 billion.
As of last month, total investment in Taiwan was NT$851 billion, hitting 81.3 percent of the full-year target, according to the ministry’s data.
NT dollar closes flat
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday erased earlier gains on speculation the central bank intervened in the final minutes of trading to slow appreciation that could hurt exporters.
The NT dollar was unchanged at NT$30.732 against its US counterpart at the close, Taipei Forex Inc said. The local currency has appreciated 5.7 percent this year, trailing gains of 11.4 percent for the Thai baht, 9.3 percent for Malaysia’s ringgit and 8 percent for the Singapore dollar.
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