Investors snap up tech shares
The TAIEX closed up 0.83 percent yesterday as buying in large-cap electronic stocks resumed amid ample liquidity, with investors ignoring China’s second increase in reserve requirements in a matter of days, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 68.79 points to 8,374.91, after moving between 8,334.42 and 8,391.25, on turnover of NT$88.87 billion (US$2.93 billion).
The market opened up 0.45 percent as investors shrugged off China’s latest monetary tightening measures and the momentum accelerated with bargain hunters emerging to pick up bellwether high-tech firms on low valuations, dealers said.
Construction stocks also attracted buying on hopes that local property prices would get a boost after media reported the government was mulling a NT$18.46 billion urban renewal plan, they said.
A total of 2,115 stocks closed up, 1,573 finished down and 418 remained unchanged.
HTC buys office space
HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s largest maker of smartphones running on the Windows and Android platforms, yesterday said its board of directors had approved the acquisition of additional office space in Sindian, Taipei County, for NT$404 million (US$13.3 million).
The company bought the third and the eighth floors of a building located on Baoqiang Road from affiliate business VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子).
The transaction, expected to be completed by the end of the year, will include office space of 1,140 ping (3,769m2), 12 regular parking lots and 25 mechanical parking lots.
The new space will add to HTC’s new Taipei headquarters in Sindian, which is scheduled for completion by the end of next year. The new headquarters will have floor space of 25,900 ping, accommodating up to 2,200 employees.
Powerchip scraps share sale
Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶) has scrapped its plan to sell between 650 million and 800 million new shares, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
Powerchip had planned to raise between US$145 million and US$179 million selling shares on the domestic and overseas markets in the form of global depositary receipts, according to the statement.
The memory chipmaker had said it would reapply for approval after the regulator in July rejected its share sale plan because of its weak financials.
Acquisition on track: Capital
Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) expects to complete its acquisition of Taiwan International Securities Corp (金鼎證券) on Mar. 27, the Taipei-based company said in a stock exchange statement yesterday. Capital had acquired a 90 percent stake in Taiwan International as of yesterday, after announcing the acquisition plan in July, the statement said.
Fitch raises Quanta outlook
Fitch Ratings has raised its outlook on Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world’s largest contract notebook maker, on hopes that the company will maintain its credit metrics in line with its current ratings.
In a statement released on Thursday last week, Fitch said it has affirmed Quanta’s long-term foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings at “BB” and the company’s national long-term rating at “BBB+ (twn).”
NT dollar continues to rise
The New Taiwan dollar rose for a third day yesterday, closing 0.2 percent higher at NT$30.628 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency reached NT$30.015 on Nov. 12, its strongest level since March 2008.
Staff writer, with agencies
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
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”