TAIEX rebounds 0.61%
Taiwan’s benchmark index staged a technical rebound yesterday as investors resumed buying in the bellwether electronics sector after a sell-off in the previous session, dealers said.
However, turnover shrank to less than NT$100 billion (US$3.47 billion), as many investors took to the sidelines amid concerns over the US economy ahead of the release of the country’s jobless data for last month, they said.
The TAIEX rose 54.92 points, or 0.61 percent, to 9,046.28, after moving between 8,997.35 and 9,052.18 on turnover of NT$90.97 billion.
MOF to buy back T-bills
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday it would buy back three batches of Treasury bills (T-bills) worth a combined NT$75 billion on June 13 ahead of their maturity.
The 91-day, 182-day, and 273-day Treasury bills are due to mature on Aug. 2, Aug. 26 and Dec. 28 this year, the ministry said in a statement.
HTC tops Asia tech list
The Chinese-language Business Next magazine said on Thursday that smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) tops the lists on both Taiwan and Asia’s top 100-rated technology corporations.
The Taipei-based magazine ranked regional technology firms on five indicators: revenue, revenue growth, return on equity, profitability and return on investment.
On the “Top 100 Tech Firms in Asia” list, companies benefiting from the rapidly growing smartphone market were listed among the top 10, including HTC (No. 1), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電, No. 3), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體, No. 6) and Delta Electronics Inc (台達電, No. 10).
Seizing the top 10 spots on the “Top 100 Tech Firms in Taiwan” list were HTC, TSMC, ASE, Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美晶), Gintech Energy Corp (昱晶), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), Delta Electronics, Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光), Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) and Largan Precision Co (大立光).
China Steel posts profits
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s largest integrated steel maker, yesterday posted a pretax profit of NT$3.3 billion for last month, down 12.02 percent from the previous month, as high raw material costs eroded gains in sales volume.
The Kaohsiung-based steelmaker said in a company statement that revenue for last month increased slightly by 0.5 percent to NT$21.19 billion from the previous year.
MOF probe targets year-end
The MOF said yesterday it was looking to finish the investigation of 2,200 short-term transactions on presale homes in northern Taiwan by the end of this year.
Most of these transactions belong to construction projects in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Sinjhuang (新莊), Banciao (板橋), Sanchong (三重), Tamsui (淡水) and Linkou (林口) districts, as well as in Hsinchu, an official at the National Tax Administration said.
The administration has seized a total of NT$33.88 million in evaded taxes on 45 transactions on presale homes since last year, the official said, adding that people who sell a presale property are subject to an income tax of up to 40 percent.
NT dollar makes gains
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar yesterday after Moody’s warned it would consider downgrading the US’ credit rating if Washington fails to make progress in raising the country’s debt ceiling, dealers said.
The NT dollar rose NT$0.035 against the US dollar at NT$28.750 on turnover of US$755 million.
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