G7 agreement boosts shares
The TAIEX ended higher yesterday after the G7 agreed to cooperate on currency intervention to stop the yen’s rise.
The benchmark index edged up 112.06 points, or 1.35 percent, to 8,394.75 on turnover of NT$127.58 billion (US$4.31 billion).
A total of 3,413 stocks closed up, 1,124 down and 376 remained unchanged, according to data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Nuclear plant exposure revealed
Taiwanese insurance companies have a total of NT$896 million in exposure to Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant through 13 companies, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The financial regulator met with the chairs of six local banks yesterday and urged them to monitor risk management on property loans, another statement released by the commission said.
Cycle Show visitors up 9%
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 貿協) said yesterday in a statement that despite some cancelations by visitors from Japan and those whose flights would have had to transit in Japan, 3,823 international visitors attended the first day of the Taipei Cycle Show, up 9 percent year-on-year.
The international trade fair is being held at the Nangang Exhibition Hall, hosting 948 companies from 36 countries.
Notebook firms upbeat
Taiwan’s notebook computer manufacturers said yesterday that the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan have had little impact on their sector, despite concerns that the catastrophe could affect the supply of parts and components.
The computer makers said there was no need to worry about the situation because substitutes can be readily found for products that use Japanese components. Furthermore, suppliers currently have between four and six weeks of inventory, which means shipments this month and next month would not be affected.
On expectations that the disaster in Japan would result in a transfer of manufacturing orders from Japan to Taiwan, the computer makers said such transfers would bring “limited” benefit, since 85 percent to 90 percent of notebook computers marketed worldwide are already produced by Taiwanese manufacturers.
Board approves cash dividend
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp’s (台灣化纖) board approved a plan to pay a cash dividend of NT$7.5 per share on last year’s earnings, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The board also approved a plan to issue NT$10 billion in bonds, said the company, which is a unit of Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), the nation’s largest diversified industrial group.
Lexus recalls three models
The manufacturer of Lexus vehicles has issue a recall over a flawed floor mat, the Consumer Protection Commission said yesterday.
The cars being recalled are RX330s made between Feb. 10, 2003, and Jan. 16, 2006; RX350s that rolled out of the plant between Aug. 31, 2005, and July 26, 2006; and RX400h models produced on May 18, 2006.
The recall, which could involve up to 11,646 vehicles, was issued because of a flawed decorative device on the front-left floor mat that could loosen and interfere with the accelerator pedals.
NT dollar edges lower
The New Taiwan dollar was little changed yesterday, trading down NT$0.026 to close at NT$29.60 against the US dollar, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
The local currency reached NT$29.647 on Thursday, its weakest level since March 3.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained