TAIEX rallies on EU accord
The TAIEX rallied yesterday to close at the day’s high on improved sentiment after EU leaders hammered out an agreement on a 120 billion euro (US$150 billion) stimulus package to boost the region’s economy, dealers said.
Investors were also encouraged by an EU consensus to ease repayment rules for emergency loans to ailing Spanish banks, they said.
The weighted index closed up 126.67 points, or 1.77 percent, at 7,296.28, off an early low of 7,177.59, on turnover of NT$65.47 billion (US$2.19 billion).
TWSE aims for transparency
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) yesterday said it would launch an information disclosure platform for domestic warrant trading next month in a bid to strengthen market transparency.
The TWSE said it had entrusted academics to develop a model that can be used to calculate a wide range of trading information on warrants. The platform will also offer information on the implied volatility of a warrant and its future volatility, which is calculated based on the latest closing price, to help investors make transaction decisions, it said.
Last year, domestic warrant trading attracted an average of 35,165 investors per month, up from the 25,639 recorded in 2010. In the first five months of this year, the monthly average was 29,995.
Food show posts record deals
The annual Taipei International Food Show has generated record business through procurement meetings, despite a gloomy global economy, organizers said yesterday.
The show, which opened on Wednesday, hosted 876 procurement meetings during its first two days for 76 international buyers from 22 countries, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said.
The business generated from those meetings reached US$46.89 million, up 26.7 percent from US$37 million a year ago, TAITRA said.
The exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall and at Exhibition Hall 1 ends today.
FSC chairman reappointed
The Executive Yuan has reappointed Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Chen Yuh-chang (陳裕璋) and Vice Chairwoman Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) to continue in their posts, spokesperson Hu Yu-wei (胡幼偉) said yesterday.
Chen and Lee are due to complete their term of office tomorrow.
ANZ to set up subsidiary
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) has gained approval to set up a subsidiary in Taiwan — the fifth to be owned by a foreign bank, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
The ANZ subsidiary will be fully responsible for all assets and liabilities of the 18 existing branches, which employ about 1,600 people, the commission said.
ANZ opened its first branch in Taiwan in 1980 and acquired ABN AMRO Bank’s business in Taiwan in 2010.
Besides the Australia-based banking group, four other subsidiaries of foreign banks — Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, HSBC, and DBS — have been operating in Taiwan.
NT dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.056 to close at NT$29.90.
The greenback opened at the day’s high of NT$29.98 and moved to an early low of NT$29.848 before rebounding. Turnover totaled US$784 million.
EXPANSION: The investment came as ASE in July told investors it would accelerate capacity growth to mitigate supply issues, and would boost spending by 16 percent ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip assembly and testing service provider, yesterday said it is investing NT$17.6 billion (US$578.6 million) to build a new advanced chip packaging facility in Kaohsiung to cope with fast-growing demand from artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and automotive applications. The new fab, called K18B, is to commence operation in the first quarter of 2028, offering chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) chip packaging and final testing services, ASE said in a statement. The fab is to create 2,000 new jobs upon its completion, ASE said. A wide spectrum of system-level chip packaging technologies would be available at
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
HEAVYWEIGHT: The TAIEX ended up 382.67 points, with about 280 of those points contributed by TSMC shares alone, which rose 2.56 percent to close at NT$1,400 Shares in Taiwan broke records at the end of yesterday’s session after contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a fresh closing-high amid enthusiasm toward artificial intelligence (AI) development, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 382.67 points, or 1.45 percent, at the day’s high of 26,761.06. Turnover totaled NT$463.09 billion (US$15.22 billion). “The local main board has repeatedly hit new closing highs in the past few sessions as investors continued to embrace high hopes about AI applications, taking cues from a strong showing in shares of US-based AI chip designer Nvidia Corp,” Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su
Nvidia Corp’s major server production partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) reported 10.99 percent year-on-year growth in quarterly sales, signaling healthy demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Revenue totaled NT$2.06 trillion (US$67.72 billion) in the last quarter, in line with analysts’ projections, a company statement said. On a quarterly basis, revenue was up 14.47 percent. Hon Hai’s businesses cover four primary product segments: cloud and networking, smart consumer electronics, computing, and components and other products. Last quarter, “cloud and networking products delivered strong growth, components and other products demonstrated significant growth, while smart consumer electronics and computing products slightly declined,” compared with the