TAIEX closes down 0.08%
The TAIEX recouped some of its early losses yesterday on the back of interest in the old-economy sector, while the bellwether electronics sector remained haunted by lingering concerns over slowing global demand, dealers said.
Possible further monetary loosening measures by the US Federal Reserve created concern among investors that the New Taiwan dollar will continue to rise on ample funds, which will impact the country’s global competitiveness, in particular in the high-tech sector, they said.
The TAIEX closed down 6.71 points, or 0.08 percent, at 8,481.35, after moving between 8,410.44 and 8,531.96 on turnover of NT$120.05 billion (US$4.15 billion).
MediaTek shares rebound
Shares of MediaTek Inc (聯發科), one of the nation’s leading integrated circuit designers, staged a rebound yesterday from the previous session after the company announced a buyback plan to bolster the share price, dealers said. The stock closed up 4.45 percent at NT$258.
MediaTek announced on Wednesday that it would buy back 8 million shares at NT$247 and NT$371 from the open market between yesterday and Sept. 13 by spending up to NT$3 billion. The buyback announcement came after the stock ended on Wednesday at a new low of NT$247 since February 2009.
Coretronic to buy back shares
LCD display maker Coretronic Corp (中光電) plans to buy back 30 million common shares, or 4.14 percent of its outstanding stock, the Hsinchu-based company said in a statement yesterday.
It said it plans to repurchase the stock at between NT$23.59 and NT$66.06 from today to Sept. 14.
Nomura foresees settlement
Nomura Securities said yesterday that Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) would seek a settlement with Apple Inc after the iPhone maker filed two patent complaints against it.
“For now it is difficult to foretell the outcome of the patent battle, but I think HTC will try to reach a settlement with Apple to avoid a ban on sales of its products in the United States, which accounts for a big part of its revenue,” Nomura analyst Aaron Jeng (鄭明宗) told reporters.
North America constituted 50.6 percent of HTC’s total revenues last year, compared with 32.3 percent from Europe and 17.1 percent from Asia and other regions, dealers said.
China Merchants MOU inked
First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) said yesterday it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on business cooperation with China Merchants Bank (招商銀行).
The two will promote personnel exchanges and share resources and market information in a bid to build a platform for providing a wider range of financial services between Taiwan and China, First Commercial said in a statement.
The move came after China Merchants Bank president Ma Weihua (馬蔚華) visited First Bank chairman Joseph Tsai (蔡慶年) last month.
First Bank has also set up partnerships with Bank of China (中國銀行), Bank of Communications (交通銀行), Agricultural Bank of China (中國農業銀行) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (中國工商銀行).
NT dollar gains
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US currency yesterday, adding NT$0.061 to close at NT$28.839 as foreign banks dumped the greenback, betting that further fund inflows would continue to boost the local currency, dealers said. Turnover totaled US$717 million during the trading session, down from US$798 million.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI