TAIEX falls 0.27%
The TAIEX fell 0.27 percent yesterday, reversing gains from trade earlier in the day, amid investor concerns about global economic fundamentals.
The TAIEX closed down 20.8 points, or 0.27 percent, to end at 7,798.59 on turnover of NT$104.69 billion (US$3.62 billion).
The market surged 71.11 points immediately after the opening bell, sending the index to the day’s high of 7,896.19, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street and in European markets.
However, the index plunged below 7,800 points a short time later, falling to the day’s low of 7,778.65.
A total of 2,175 stocks closed up and 2,067 were down, with 587 unchanged.
FSC fines E.Sun Commercial
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), the banking arm of E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), NT$1 million (US$34,578) for leasing real estate intended for its own use.
The leased space takes up all of the property at issue, at variance with banking regulations that cap areas to be leased at less than 50 percent to meet the “self use” requirement, the financial regulator said in a statement.
The limit is designed to stop lenders from speculating in real estate, a practice that has sent real-estate prices soaring in recent years.
Hua Nan approved in Macau
Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行), the banking arm of state-run Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控), has won approval from Macau authorities to set up a branch in the Chinese territory, the lender said in a statement yesterday.
Hua Nan said the branch would focus on foreign currency operations and would serve small and medium-sized Taiwanese firms in Macau, the lender said.
The branch is yet another bid by Hua Nan to enhance its presence in the Greater China area, where it already operates a branch in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
Majority want to take exams
More than 80 percent of the public want to take Civil Service Exams (CSE) to secure stable jobs, according to the results of a survey released yesterday by 1111 Job Bank.
The respondents who expressed an interest in entering public service included office workers, job seekers and students. Forty percent of respondents believe that by passing the CSE, which are held by the Ministry of Examination, they are guaranteed permanent employment.
Other attractions include having a stable income, fixed working time and a secure retirement.
The results show that despite an economic recovery, the public still desire stable jobs, the job bank said.
The survey, conducted from July 26 to Aug. 9, collected 781 valid samples through e-mail and had a confidence level of 95 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Hon Hai to invest in Foxconn
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) said yesterday the company would increase its investment by US$10.25 million in its wholly owned unit Foxconn Holding Ltd.
The world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics products did not give more details in the stock exchange statement.
NT dollar rises slightly
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.004 to close at NT$28.948.
Turnover totaled US$786 million, compared with US$559 million on Monday.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained