TAIEX erases early gains
The nation’s benchmark index fell back from earlier gains yesterday, closing flat as various high-tech firms in the Apple supply chain came under pressure amid concerns over pollution accusations in China, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 6.11 points, or 0.08 percent, at 7,353.37, after moving between 7,316.58 and 7,393.73 on turnover of NT$77.30 billion (US$2.57 billion).
Mega Securities Co (兆豐證券) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said the local bourse remained in ranged trade, adding that external factors, in particular the eurozone’s debt problems, were expected to keep dictating local trading in the short term.
Chunghwa, Fujitsu sign pact
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecommunications operator, and Fujitsu Ltd, one of Japan’s major IT products makers, signed an agreement to cooperate on cloud-computing business, Chunghwa said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Yuanta Bank sells bonds
Yuanta Commercial Bank (元大商業銀行) sold NT$5.2 billion of unsecured subordinated bonds in two tranches, parent Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The bank will pay an interest rate of 1.8 percent on NT$700 million of seven-year debt and 1.95 percent on NT$4.5 billion of 10-year bonds, it said.
Gordon Auto Body to sell bonds
Gordon Auto Body Parts Co (耿鼎企業), one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of metal replacement crash part, plans to sell NT$300 million of three-year secured convertible bonds to help repay bank loans, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
UK retailer, Haier enter venture
Britain’s Home Retail Group and Chinese appliance giant Haier (海爾) will launch a joint retail venture in China, the two firms said yesterday.
Home Retail, a leading home and general merchandise retailer, and Haier Electronics Group will develop a business under the British brand “Argos,” Haier said in a statement.
Haier has a 51 percent stake in the venture, which has an initial investment of about US$29.5 million, while the British company holds the remaining 49 percent, the statement said.
The joint venture will start operations next year, targeting the commercial capital Shanghai and its surrounding region, before expanding to other parts of China, the companies said.
FDI in China slows
Foreign direct investment (FDI) growth in China slowed last month, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said yesterday, as it warned global trade faced a “severe situation” due to the West’s economic woes.
FDI rose 7.88 percent year-on-year last month to US$9.05 billion, the ministry said in a statement, compared with growth of 11.1 percent in August and 19.83 percent in July.
For the first nine months, China took a total of US$86.68 billion in FDI, up 16.6 percent from the same period last year.
That compares with growth of 17.7 percent in the January to August period.
NT dollar closes up
The New Taiwan dollar rose against its US counterpart yesterday, adding NT$0.101 to close at NT$30.100, a reflection of the strength of most of the currencies in the region, dealers said.
A rising euro pushed most Asian currencies higher amid improved sentiment toward the financial situation in Europe, they said.
Turnover totaled US$758 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
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
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