Profit-taking holds back TAIEX
The TAIEX pulled back yesterday as investors pocketed gains posted in the previous session amid lingering concerns over the global economy, dealers said.
The benchmark index closed down 47.30 points, or 0.63 percent, at 7,502.93, after moving between 7,432.52 and 7,594.81 on turnover of NT$128.21 billion (US$4.42 billion).
The cement sector suffered the heaviest pressure, finishing down 4.7 percent. Foodstuffs fell 2.4 percent, construction shares shed 1.9 percent, textiles lost 1.2 percent and the financial sector closed down 1 percent. The plastics and chemicals sector fell 0.3 percent, while paper and pulp stocks rose 0.6 percent. The machinery and electronics sectors closed unchanged.
Cheng Uei to open more stores
Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co (正崴精密) plans to increase its number of retail stores by at least 50 percent by the end of next year as the popularity of Apple Inc’s products grows.
Studio A Inc, which is 51 percent owned by Cheng Uei, currently operates about 70 stores in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea, and it is aiming to have 80 outlets by the end of the year, T.P. Liu (劉德斌), an investor relations spokesman for Cheng Uei, said yesterday. Studio A, which is authorized to sell Apple products, plans to increase to about 130 by the end of next year, Liu said.
Shin Kong to sell off debt
Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行), a wholly-owned unit of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), plans to sell NT$2 billion of subordinated debt to strengthen its financial structure, raise its capital adequacy ratio and medium to long-term funds, according to a Taiwan Stock Exchange statement issued yesterday. The bonds will mature in five to 10 years, it said.
Meanwhile, Ta Chong Bank Co (大眾銀行) plans to sell NT$5 billion of debentures and NT$5 billion of subordinated debt to strengthen its financial structure and boost medium to long-term funds, the Taipei-based lender said in an exchange statement. The bonds will have a maturity of two to 10 years, it said.
Fubon inks cross-strait deal
Fubon Securities Investment Trust Co (富邦投信) has signed an initial cooperation agreement with Haitong International Securities Group Ltd (海通證券) and China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行), parent Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
An agreement would need approval from the financial regulator, the statement said.
IP Bank to open next year
The government-funded Intellectual Property (IP) Bank venture capital fund is expected begin operating by early next year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement yesterday.
The venture capital fund management firm will be established next month and the semi-official Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院), which is in charge of IP Bank, is talking to possible investors.
The government came up with the IP Bank as the engagement of patent lawsuits has become common in the business world.
Equities drag NT dollar lower
The New Taiwan dollar fell against its US counterpart yesterday, down NT$0.035 to close at NT$29.025, as the local bourse suffered a pullback on foreign institutional selling, dealers said.
The NT dollar traded against the greenback in a narrow range as traders took to the sidelines ahead of a speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a central bank conference tomorrow, they said.
Turnover totaled US$825 million during the trading 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
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
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
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