TAIEX ends flat on low trade
The nation’s benchmark index prices fell 0.11 percent yesterday in low-volume trading as investors stayed on the sidelines. The market could remain uncertain until the central bank holds its quarterly policy meeting, which is scheduled for tomorrow, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 7.55 points to 7,085.03. Turnover totaled NT$59.04 billion (US$1.95 billion). A total of 1,104 stocks closed up and 2,249 finished down, while 540 remained unchanged.
Two banks approved in China
E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) and state-owned Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) yesterday won approval from China for their plans to set up branches in Dongguan and Shanghai respectively, the companies said in separate statements.
The two lenders said the permission would allow them to tap into the mass Chinese market and they would aim first to serve Taiwanese firms based there.
Chinatrust units to disband
The boards of three bad-bank units at Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) yesterday approved plans to disband and transfer remaining assets to the parent’s asset management subsidiary, the parent firm said in a statement.
The three units, created to process bad-bank business at home and abroad, have completed their mission, the statement said.
Their dissolution would not have a significant impact on the parent firm’s financial health, but would help streamline its structure, the statement said.
As of last month, the three units have a net worth of NT$454 million, NT$1.2 million and US$14.2 million respectively, it said.
Green Energy’s plan rejected
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday rejected a capital increase plan by Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), citing insufficient information filed by the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker.
Green Energy had sought to raise NT$500 million by issuing 50 million new common shares valued at NT$10 per share to strengthen its financial health and working capital.
‘US$35’ tablet to get first looks
A “US$35” tablet computer, touted as the world’s cheapest so far, will be introduced in Taiwan at an international conference organized by the Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會) on India’s development of information and communications technology in Taipei today.
The tablet, called “Aakash,” meaning “sky” in Hindi, was developed at the initiative of the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development to create affordable tablets for ordinary people. It was launched in October.
Office workers pessimistic: poll
Office workers are feeling down about next year as many are worried about rising prices without any prospects for a pay raise, a poll by a human resource company showed yesterday.
The survey, conducted by 360d HR Consultancy Co (360d才庫人力資源), asked office workers between Dec. 15 and Sunday about their hopes for the new year. A total of 1,082 effective samples were collected.
The survey showed 54 percent of respondents were pessimistic about next year. Of those worried about future prospects, 42 percent said they felt blue because there had no hope of a pay raise amid rising consumer prices, 28 percent said they had yet to find a stable better half, while 26 percent said they wanted to change jobs, but couldn’t find any opportunities.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the greenback yesterday, declining NT$0.004 to close at NT$30.312.
Turnover totaled US$461 million during the trading session.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to