US tech stocks pull TAIEX down
The TAIEX fell 1.64 percent yesterday, dragged down by overnight losses on US tech stocks and a downward revision of Taiwan’s economic growth prospects by Morgan Stanley.
The benchmark index closed down 126.79 points to end at 7,614.97 on turnover of NT$119.087 billion (US$4.11 billion).
A total of 1,144 stocks closed up and 3,421 were down, with 384 unchanged. All sectors closed down, of which construction stocks suffered the heaviest losses, finishing down 2.6 percent.
HKEx, China bourses in talks
The Hong Kong stock exchange said yesterday it is in talks with bourses in China to set up a joint venture in the city, in the latest step toward boosting economic integration.
HKEx, the world’s most valuable exchange operator, said in a statement that it has agreed to enter into “detailed discussions” with the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges over a possible tie-up.
“Currently the possible areas of business operation of the joint venture company include, but are not limited to, the development of index and other equity derivative products and the compilation of new indexes,” it said.
Taishin names acting president
Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) appointed Chen Long-zheng (陳龍政) as acting president, it said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. Lin Keh-hsiao (林克孝), former president, fell to his death in a hiking accident on Aug. 10.
CAL expands China routes
Taiwan’s largest carrier, China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), announced yesterday that it will add three more Chinese cities — Wuxi, Sanya and Yancheng — to its schedule, starting at the end of this month. All three flights will operate out of Taiwan Taoyuan -International Airport, CAL said.
The China Eastern Airlines Corp (中國東方航空) will cooperate on the Wuxi City route in a collaborative arrangement with CAL, according to the Taiwanese airline.
CAL said earlier this month that it would a launch a new direct flight from Kaohsiung to Beijing every Friday night and returning the next day, starting on Sept. 9.
China Mobile profit up 6.3%
China Mobile Ltd (中國移動), the world’s biggest mobile phone company by subscribers, said yesterday its first-half profit rose 6.3 percent as sales were boosted by greater usage of mobile Internet devices.
The Beijing-based company said profit was 61.3 billion yuan (US$9.6 billion) for the six months ended June 30. Revenue climbed 8.8 percent to 250.1 billion yuan.
China Mobile added 32.8 million customers in the first half of the year for a total of 610 million at the end of June.
LCD TV shipments jump
Second-quarter LCD TV shipments by Taiwanese major contract makers grew 7.3 percent compared with the first quarter, said WitsView, the research arm of TrendForce Corp (集邦科技), in a statement yesterday.
The top-five makers were TPV Technology Ltd (冠捷), Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), Wistron Corp (緯創), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) and Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒), in that order.
WitsView estimated 23 percent to 25 percent of worldwide LCD TVs this year would be manufactured by Taiwanese makers, translating to a volume of about 47 to 49 million units.
NT dollar slips NT$0.028
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.028 to close at NT$28.990.
Turnover totaled US$782 million during the trading session, compared with US$823 million on Wednesday.
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
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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],”