TAIEX rises slightly
Taiwan’s benchmark index closed little changed yesterday after a tug-of-war between follow-through buying in select old-economy stocks and selling in the high-tech sector was overshadowed by a rising New Taiwan dollar, dealers said. The TAIEX rose 2.16 points, or 0.02 percent, to 8,704.39, after moving between 8,654.49 and 8,716.00, on turnover of NT$123.50 billion (US$4.10 billion).
The market opened up 0.16 percent at the day’s high amid ample liquidity, while concern over Taiwan’s global competitiveness on the NT dollar’s appreciation dampened investor sentiment toward the bellwether electronics sector, the dealers said.
A total of 1,949 stocks closed up and 2,072 were down, with 440 remaining unchanged.
MOF to sell NT$30bn in bonds
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) yesterday said it would auction an extra NT$30 billion worth of 30-year government bonds to finance an existing special budget aimed at strengthening infrastructure facilities.
The bond is slated to be auctioned on Dec. 23 and be settled on Dec. 28, the ministry.
All government agencies will speed up carrying out the special funding that will also help stimulate the economy after the legislature gave its approval on May 25, the ministry said, adding that the new debt would not hurt the nation’s financial health.
E Ink revenue hits record-high
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s biggest e-paper display supplier, yesterday said revenue hit a record-high of NT$3.28 billion last month, greatly exceeding the NT$3 billion predicted by most analysts.
E Ink attributed the growth to robust demand for e-readers, the company said in a press release. Online book store operator Amazon.com Inc, electronics maker Sony Corp and China’s e-reader maker Hanvon Technology Co (漢王科技) are E Ink customers.
E Ink had expected the growth momentum to carry into this month, as the Christmas shopping season would boost shipments and revenues even higher than those in November.
Compared with last year’s NT$1.86 billion, E Ink’s revenues last month grew 76.46 percent. That presented an 18.38 percent increase from NT$2.77 billion in October.
Macronix posts revenue drop
Memory chipmaker Macronix International Co Ltd (旺宏電子) yesterday said revenue dropped 18.4 percent to NT$1.69 billion last month from NT$2.08 billion in October. On an annual basis, that was a 31.4 percent decline.
In October, the Hsinchu-based chipmaker said revenues would shrink as high as 29 percent this quarter to between NT$5.8 billion and NT$6 billion, from NT$8.16 billion in the third quarter, blaming weak demand.
ADB expects soft 2011 growth
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday forecast that the nation’s economy would expand by 4 percent next year as its growth momentum moderates after this year’s strong showing.
In its Asia Economic Monitor report, the ADB said the nation’s exports would likely see its exports affected by weaker global demand, and growth in other areas, including industrial production and retail sales, is expected to moderate.
The report also expected the nation’s GDP to rise 9.8 percent for all of this year after the economy posted 13.2 percent growth in the first half of the year and 9.8 percent growth in the third quarter.
NT dollar inches down
The NT dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.005 to close at NT$30.63.
Turnover totaled US$563 million during the trading session.
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
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
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