TAIEX edges down 0.1 percent
The TAIEX closed down 0.1 percent yesterday as lingering concerns over fund outflows prompted investors to take profit from early gains, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 8.97 points to 8,712.96 on turnover of NT$122.73 billion (US$4.17 billion).
“The market has been locked in a consolidation mode, moving in a narrow range throughout the trade after recent heavy losses,” Horizon Securities (宏遠證券) analyst Benson Huang said.
“Many investors remained wary of possible moves by foreign institutional investors, fearing they would dump more large-cap stocks and leave,” Huang said.
HTC eyes larger tablets
HTC Corp (宏達電) may introduce larger tablet computers than the 7-inch screen “Flyer” device that the Taiwanese company unveiled on Tuesday to challenge the dominance of Apple Inc’s iPad.
“We’re working on several form factors,” HTC chief executive officer Peter Chou (周永明) said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday, when asked whether the company may offer bigger tablets.
Sales from tablets are “extremely important” for the company, he said.
Tsann Kuen upbeat on sales
Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co (燦坤實業), a computer, communications and consumer electronics retailer, is eyeing at least a double-digit percentage rise in revenue this year as it seeks to bolster its Internet shopping portal.
The retailer aims to compete with bigger rivals such as PChome and Yahoo-Kimo (雅虎奇摩) in cyber shopping and rake in at least NT$1 million in sales within two years, Tsann Kuen chief operating officer Hank Horng (洪漢青) said.
The company will also add 30 more brick-and-mortar outlets to its existing network of 336 stores this year to boost sales, he said.
Taiwan’s US debt holdings rise
Taiwan increased its holdings of US Treasury securities by 0.6 percent to US$131.9 billion in December, making it the ninth-largest foreign owner of US government debt, according to data released on Tuesday by the US Departmetn of Treasury.
China, the biggest foreign buyer of US debt, decreased its holdings in December by 0.4 percent to US$891.6 billion.
It was the second consecutive month that Beijing had lowered its US debt holdings, which stood slightly below the US$894.8 billion it held at the end of 2009.
Japan, the second-largest foreign buyer of US debt, raised its holdings in December by 0.7 percent to US$883.6 billion.
The UK, the third-largest buyer, increased its holdings by 5.8 percent to US$541.3 billion.
NT dollar little changed
The New Taiwan dollar rose early yesterday on speculation exporters were taking advantage of its recent weakness to repatriate income at a more favorable exchange rate.
The currency rose as much as 0.4 percent before ending little changed on speculation the central bank bought the US dollar, according to two traders who declined to be identified as the monetary authority doesn’t disclose such details.
“Although the current level of the Taiwan dollar isn’t very desirable for exporters, it’s still a good time for them to buy, given expectations for further appreciation,” said Samson Tu, who helps manage US$1.6 billion of fixed-income securities at Uni-President Assets Management Corp (統一投信) in Taipei.
The NT dollar closed at NT$29.47 against its US counterpart, up NT$0.01 from NT$29.469 on Tuesday, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI