TAIEX inches higher
A weakening New Taiwan dollar continued to boost buying on the local stock market yesterday as investors expected high-tech companies to benefit from improving profitability now that the depreciating currency is making them more competitive, dealers said.
In addition to the electronics sector, the financial sector rose on futures-led buying as investors who built up long futures positions aimed to realize gains in the futures market by lifting share prices in the spot market, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 43.03 points, or 0.57 percent, at 7,535.88, after moving between 7,465.98 and 7,574.78, on turnover of NT$104.79 billion (US$3.50 billion).
Tainan Enterprise to float
Tainan Enterprise (Cayman) Co (台南企業[開曼]) is scheduled to launch a primary listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Oct. 12, underwriter Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said yesterday.
An underwriting process ahead of the listing will start next week for the Cayman-registered company, which is one of the subsidiaries of Taiwan-based textile maker Tainan Enterprises Co, Capital Securities said.
Tainan Enterprise (Cayman), which is currently capitalized at NT$573 million, is running a broad distribution network in China, serving as an agent for foreign brands and supplies self-built brands for men’s and women’s garments.
According to the garment supplier’s prospectus, it is planning to issue 7.82 million shares to raise about NT$352 million and will use the funds as working capital and to repay debt.
Acer reveals acting CFO
Acer Inc (宏碁) has appointed Lilia Wang (王美麗) as acting chief financial officer (CFO), replacing Tu Che-min (杜哲民), the company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Tu, who is being transferred because of health reasons, will become special assistant to the chairman, Acer said. Wang is Acer’s global controller and CFO for the Europe, Middle East and Africa. The company hopes to find a replacement over the next four months, according to the statement.
First AMC to set up China firm
First Financial AMC (第一金融資產管理) will spend US$30 million setting up a leasing firm in China, First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), parent of the company, said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
S-tech bond sale planned
S-Tech Corp (精剛精密) plans to sell NT$300 million of three-year domestic secured convertible bonds with a zero coupon to repay bank debts and replenish working capital, the company said in a statement yesterday.
It also plans to raise as much as NT$252 million by selling 9 million new shares, the company said in a separate statement.
NT dollar declines
The NT dollar fell against the US currency yesterday, declining NT$0.062 to close at NT$29.950.
Turnover totaled US$786 million during the trading session.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure