High-tech stocks push TAIEX up
A falling New Taiwan dollar yesterday helped the local stock market recoup early losses amid concerns over eurozone debt problems, as investors picked up select high-tech stocks on hopes they would cut foreign exchange losses, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 11.97 points, or 0.16 percent, at 7,492.85, after moving between 7,389.39 and 7,544.88, on turnover of NT$101.03 billion (US$3.37 billion).
“Many investors are hoping a falling [New] Taiwan dollar will enhance the local high-tech sector’s global competitiveness at a time when demand in the world has been hampered by the debt crisis in Europe,” Mega Securities (兆豐證券) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.
However, turnover remained moderate, indicating many investors remained on the sidelines because they were wary of the European debt problems, Huang said.
ASE to buy back common shares
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), plans to buy back 30 million common shares, or 0.44 percent, of total outstanding shares to protect shareholders’ interests, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The company plans to buy back shares at between NT$22 and NT$40 each from today to Nov. 20, it said.
Taipei land deals on plate
Shihlin Development Co (士林開發) sold land for NT$551 million and expects to book a gain of NT$200 million from the transaction, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Taiwan Tea Corp (台灣農林) plans to buy commercial property in Taipei for NT$5.12 billion, the company said in a statement to the local stock exchange, while Delpha Construction Co (大華建設) bought land in the capital for NT$1.1 billion yesterday to develop property, according to a separate exchange filing.
LCY to invest more in unit
LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學) plans to invest an additional NT$1.72 billion in polysilicon supplier unit Taiwan Polysilicon Corp (福聚太陽能), the chemical producer said in a statement yesterday.
Taiwan Polysilicon was established in 2007 with a paid-in capital of NT$6 billion. Its major shareholders include LCY Chemical, which owns a 63.78 percent stake, and 11.97 percent by Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子).
TC Bank president resigns
Ta Chong Bank Ltd (TC Bank, 大眾銀行) president Edmund Koh (許健洲) resigned for personal reasons and will be returning to Singapore, the Taipei-based lender said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. Koh will continue to lead the bank until early next year, the statement said.
MOF urges more towel action
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday that anti-dumping measures against Chinese towel makers should continue after it finished an investigation into the case.
The ministry would request the Ministry of Economic Affairs to conduct a second round of investigations. The MOF will make a final decision by year-end based on all the investigation results.
The MOF’s tariff committee levied a 204.1 percent anti-dumping tax on China-made towels for five years, which ended in June, but the levy will continue before a final decision is made, it said.
NT dollar down on Italy woes
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US currency yesterday, declining NT$0.108 to close at NT$29.888 on escalating concerns over the strength of the euro after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Italy’s credit rating, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$1.2 billion during the trading session.
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”