Citigroup Global Markets said yesterday it maintained a previous forecast that the TAIEX would hit 10,000 points this year, partly on strong capital inflows.
Meanwhile, the presidential election scheduled for January next year is expected to prompt the government to support the local stock market in the run-up to the election to secure victory and stay in power as past governments had done, the brokerage said.
With closer business ties across the Taiwan Strait and relaxed cross-strait investment rules, Citigroup said, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government has encouraged Taiwanese investors operating in China to repatriate funds.
Citigroup said if both sides eliminated double taxation, the capital repatriation from China to Taiwan could total US$40 billion a year.
Authorities on both sides are aiming to sign an agreement in this area, but further negotiations are needed to cut a deal.
As for a likely rally because of the presidential election, Citigroup said the upswing is unlikely to come into full force until the fourth quarter this year, while bank stocks may lead gains as the sector is the most sensitive to government policies.
In addition to the financial sector, Citigroup is upbeat about share price gains posted by the local foundry sector, as well as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, on their relatively low valuations.
Citigroup has a target price of NT$148.00 on Hon Hai.
The brokerage has removed smartphone manufacturer HTC Corp (宏達電) from its top “buy” list as the stock appeared expensive after a recent strong showing.
The brokerage added specialty steelmaker Gloria Material Technology (榮剛材料) and aluminum and magnesium products provider Catcher Technology (可成科技) to its top “buy” list.
Among its top “sell” stocks are IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科), PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) and touch-panel maker Young Fast Optoelectronics Co (洋華).
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six