TAIEX consolidates
The TAIEX fell into a consolidation mode yesterday after a recent technical rebound amid concerns over potentially weak sales reports for last month that are due this week, dealers said.
Some investors simply decided to remain on the sidelines because of a lack of guidance from Wall Street, which was closed on Monday for Independence Day in the US, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 9.72 points, or 0.11 percent, at 8,784.44, after fluctuating between 8,743.45 and 8,794.14, on turnover of NT$100.18 billion (US$3.48 billion).
The plastics and chemical sector scored the highest gains of any of the market’s eight major sectors, finishing up 1.7 percent, while textile shares were the biggest losers, falling 1.0 percent.
Office space hits record high
The average price of sales and rental of commercial office space in Taipei hit record highs in the second quarter of this year, according to figures released by a real estate agent yesterday.
From April to last month, commercial real-estate transactions averaged NT$557,000 (US$19,384) per ping (3.3m2), an increase of 53 percent compared with the first quarter of 2009, when the property market was at a low due to the global financial crisis, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) said.
In the second quarter, the monthly rent for office space rose to NT$2,065 per ping on average, the broker said.
The majority of buyers of commercial offices in the capital city were investors and firms seeking bigger spaces, according to the broker’s chief researcher Jeffry Huang (黃增福).
The average vacancy rate of office buildings in Taipei dropped to 9.45 percent in the second quarter, a near two-year low.
Ministry mulls export tax rebate
The Ministry of Finance is -considering tax rebates on exports of textiles, plastics, machinery and metal products to Europe and the US, the Central News Agency reported yesterday.
Gourmet, Cafe de Coral in deal
Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), which operates the popular 85°C bakery and coffee chain in Taiwan, China, Australia and the US, signed an agreement to cooperate and develop its coffee chain in Hong Kong with Cafe de Coral Holdings Ltd, the Taiwan-based company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
E.Sun in deal with Bank of China
E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), the banking arm of E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), has signed an agreement with Bank of China Ltd (中國銀行) on business cooperation, E.Sun Financial said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
Barclays hires Philip Tsao
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, announced on Monday that it had hired Philip Tsao (曹為實), former president of China Development Industrial Bank in Taiwan (中華開發工業銀行), as head of its global finance and risk solutions for Greater China.
Tsao will be a managing director and be based in Hong Kong to serve corporate clients and financial intermediaries in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Tsao previously served as a managing director in the institutional equities unit at Morgan Stanley. He also held various positions at UBS’ capital markets division before that, the person said.
NT dollar down slightly
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar NT$0.049 to close at NT$28.801 yesterday.
Turnover totaled US$815 million during the trading session, up from US$586 million the previous session.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last