High-tech shares lead rebound
Share prices in Taiwan staged a technical rebound yesterday, led by high-tech heavyweights that had been hammered in recent sessions on concerns over weakening global demand, dealers said.
Turnover remained anemic, however, as market sentiment was overshadowed by negative external factors and many investors were reluctant to chase prices and push the index higher, they added.
The TAIEX closed up 29.31 points, or 0.44 percent, at 6,662.64, after moving between 6,646.30 and 6,696.93 on turnover of NT$60.36 billion (US$1.99 billion).
The market opened up 0.48 percent and moved to the day’s high in the first 15 minutes of the session based on recoveries in other markets in the region, as fears receded that the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il would trigger instability on the Korean Peninsula.
Chimei settles lawsuit
Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s top LCD panel maker, yesterday said it has agreed to pay US$78 million to settle a price-fixing lawsuit in the US, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
LCD panel buyers lodged a complaint to a district court in North Carolina, accusing the world’s major panel makers, including Chimei, of price fixing.
The court approved the settlement yesterday.
Chimei said the outcome would not have further financial impact on the company as it paid the damages last quarter.
Biggest-ever auto show to open
Taiwan’s biggest-ever auto show, with 34 brands exhibiting their models, will showcase the latest trends in the industry when it opens on Saturday.
The Taipei International Auto Show, which takes place every other year and is scheduled to be held for the 19th time, will feature nearly 200 new models from 34 local and international brands, the most in the exhibition’s history.
The Taipei Automobile Distributors Association (台北市汽車代理商業同業公會), the show’s organizer, said concept cars, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and hybrid vehicles, will be showcased along with sports cars, sport utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles.
Besides Taiwanese brand Luxgen, visitors can also see the latest upscale and unique designs by foreign brands, including Toyota, Volvo, BMW, Porsche and Saab.
The event is set to take place at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1 through Jan. 1 and is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors.
Acer to sell Neihu building
Acer Inc (宏碁), one of the world’s top PC brands, yesterday said it had sealed a deal to sell an under-used office building in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) for NT$2.53 billion (US$83.35 million) to Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the world’s major manufacturer of switching power supplies.
Profit on the disposal of the property would total NT$653 million, the company said.
Acer would recognize the gain next year, soon after its move, which is expected to be finished by the end of the first quarter, it said.
Acer plans to lease one floor of the building after the auction to continue housing the operations of its hand-held devices division.
NT dollar up against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.045 to close at NT$30.353.
Turnover totaled US$486 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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last