TAIEX drops sharply
The TAIEX took a beating yesterday, led by the bellwether electronics sector, after Goldman Sachs cut its target price on smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) because of concerns over its tablet computer sales, dealers said.
The benchmark index closed down 163.12 points, or 1.81 percent, at the day’s low of 8,837.82, off a high of 9,053.39, on turnover of NT$111.43 billion (US$3.87 billion).
Liquid asset ratio raised
Taiwan raised the liquid asset requirement of financial institutions to strengthen risk management, the nation’s central bank said in a statement yesterday.
The liquid asset requirement will be raised to 10 percent from 7 percent effective Oct. 1, the monetary authority said. The average liquid asset ratio of financial institutions already surpasses 10 percent, the central bank said. This is the first increase since July 1978.
Acer security breached
Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s third-largest computer maker, said a security breach resulted in the release of customers’ information at its Packard Bell unit.
Name, address, phone, e-mail and product serial numbers were released, but “no credit card or other personal data appears to have been included,” Acer spokesman Henry Wang (汪島雄) said in an e-mailed response to questions.
TSMC sales at four-month low
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said sales for last month fell to the lowest level since February as the company felt the impact from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March. The decline in sales was also the result of a rising New Taiwan dollar, which hurt the country’s competitiveness.
Last month, TSMC posted NT$36.71 billion in revenue, down 1.1 percent from April but up 5.4 percent from a year earlier. On Thursday, rival United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) posted a month-on-month 1.71 percent fall in sales to NT$9.4 billion for last month.
Market observers said that based on a combined revenue of NT$73.84 billion posted in the past two months, TSMC is expected to fulfill a goal it announced in April to generate sales ranging between NT$109 billion and NT$111 billion for the second quarter.
Marine research exchange
The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday with the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the world’s largest indoor aquarium, for exchanges in marine research and conservation of biodiversity in Taiwan.
The deal will drive exchanges of research staff between the -Chicago-based aquarium and two Taiwanese aquariums — the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Kenting and the Farglory Ocean Park in Hualien — to allow the sharing of experience in exploring the ocean, CEPD Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said at a signing ceremony.
Ken Ramirez, executive vice president of Shedd Aquarium, said Shedd will not move specimens from Chicago in the first stage of the MOU but will bring staff to Taiwan to show its successful breeding programs. The aquarium might also raise some financial donations to help Taiwan with its conservation efforts, he added.
NT dollar edges down
The NT dollar fell against the greenback yesterday, dropping NT$0.055 to close at NT$28.835 in reflection of sell-offs in the local stock market, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$1.06 billion during the trading session.
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