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.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the