TAIEX passes 7,100 points
Share prices soared in expanded trade yesterday, with the TAIEX powering past the 7,100 point mark.
Financial stocks posted strong gains for the third consecutive trading session after the Financial Supervisory Commission announced that life insurance companies would be allowed to use part of their reserves to write down up to 50 percent of their foreign exchange losses, dealers said.
Led by the financial sector, interest spread across the board as many investors resumed buying, taking advantage of low valuations in both old-economy and high-tech sectors, which had been hard hit by European debt concerns recently, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 144.38 points, or 2.07 percent, at 7,110.73. Turnover totaled NT$92.84 billion (US$3.07 billion) during the session.
AUO appoints new president
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panelmaker, yesterday promoted vice president Paul Peng (彭雙浪) to the position of president, ahead of Chen Lai-juh (陳來助).
Chen, AUO vice chairman Chen Hsuan-bin (陳炫彬) and vice president Hui Hsiung (熊暉) have been barred from leaving the US by a US district in California after appearing in a price-fixing trial in July of last year.
Chen Lai-juh was appointed president of the firm’s solar business group, AUO said, after its board approved the shake-up yesterday. The new appointments will take effect on Jan. 1.
CAL approves funding plan
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), Taiwan’s largest air carrier, said yesterday that its board had approved a plan to raise NT$6.67 billion (US$220.16 million) in funding through the issuance of 56.84 million common shares.
The proceeds will be used to purchase new Airbus A350 aircraft and repay bank loans to improve the firm’s liability ratio, the company said.
The offering price was NT$11.73 per share, while the base date for effecting stock options was Jan. 15, CAL stock exchange filing data showed.
Fubon gets Da Nang approval
Fubon Insurance Vietnam Co received Hanoi’s approval for the establishment of a branch in Da Nang, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the nation’s No. 2 financial service provider, said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Eslite to open HK store
Eslite Corp (誠品), which operates the Eslite bookstore chain in Taiwan, said yesterday that it planned to open its first overseas outlet in Hong Kong in the second half of next year.
Eslite said the new 4,000m2 store would be located in Causeway Bay, one of Hong Kong’s most popular shopping areas.
The company said that with ties in the greater China region growing closer, it was an opportune time for Eslite to establish a presence in Hong Kong.
NT dollar up against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, up NT$0.029 to close at NT$30.296, with demand for the local currency boosted by a rally in the domestic stock market, dealers said.
Encouraged by better-than--expected US job data, traders appeared more willing to take risks and moved their funds to equity markets in Asia after Wall Street’s gains overnight, they said.
Turnover totaled US$586 million during the trading session. Dealers said investor sentiment over the US economy improved after first-time jobless benefit claims in Thursday’s US job data were lower than expected, prompting traders to leave the US dollar as a safe haven and flock to equity markets.
HSBC Holdings PLC is deepening its commitment to Taiwan as the economy emerges as one of the bank’s fastest-growing markets globally, driven by an artificial intelligence (AI) investment boom, expanding cross-border trade, and rising wealth creation. “The advantage that Taiwan has is a growth story linked to the semiconductor and broader AI industries, strong underlying corporate performance, and wealth creation,” said Surendra Rosha, HSBC’s co-chief executive for Asia and the Middle East, in an exclusive interview with the Taipei Times on June 2, during this year’s HSBC Taiwan Conference. That combination has helped HSBC cement its position as the most profitable international
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell sharply against the US dollar to close at its lowest level since May 22 amid a massive outflow of funds from the country because of investors panicking over global equity markets. The NT dollar ended at NT$31.580 against the US dollar, slightly lower than its close of NT$31.568 on May 22, after moving between NT$31.5 and NT$31.648 on combined turnover of US$3.062 billion on the Taipei Foreign Exchange and the Cosmos Foreign Exchange. The NT dollar received a significant hit in the morning session, slumping as much as NT$0.173 at a time when other Asian currencies
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is now ranked ninth among the world’s 100 most valuable companies after its market capitalization more than doubled over the past year, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan said in a report last month. TSMC’s market capitalization surged 101 percent year-on-year to US$1.427 trillion as of March 31, the accounting and consulting firm’s 2026 Global Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalization report said. The gain catapulted the world’s largest contract chipmaker from 12th place to ninth in the rankings, and it was the fastest-growing among the global top 10, it said. TSMC was the only Taiwanese company among the top
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$416.975 billion (US$13.17 billion) for last month, putting the world’s largest contract chipmaker on track to set a record for quarterly revenue. Last month’s figure surpassed March’s record NT$415.19 billion and represented increases of 1.5 percent from April and 30.1 percent from a year earlier. For the first five months of the year, TSMC generated NT$1.96 trillion in revenue, up 30 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. TSMC has forecast second-quarter revenue of between US$39 billion and US$40.2 billion, representing sequential growth of about 10 percent and year-on-year growth of about
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