TAIEX breaks 7,500 mark
The TAIEX rose yesterday, closing above the 7,500-point level for the first time in over three months on strong performances by the financial and electronics sectors.
The benchmark index, which ranged from a high of 7,536.32 to a low of 7,459.50, closed up 74.9 points, or 1.01 percent, at 7,506.81 on turnover of NT$77.61 billion (US$2.59 billion).
A total of 2,565 stocks closed up and 1,674 finished down, while 453 remained unchanged.
FSC tightens rules
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday tightened requirements for domestic life insurers to purchase real estate properties to improve their profitability, while preventing land hoarding by them.
Real estate investments by domestic life insurers should generate minimum yields of 2.125 percent, from the current 1.875 percent, or 75 basis points higher than interest rates on two-year postal savings deposits, the commission said in a statement.
Property disposals one year after purchase — including transfers from self-use to investment classifications — should win board approval to ensure such transactions are legal, legitimate and reasonable, the statement said.
Life insurers also must meet the requirement of “quick returns” in dealing with collateralized real estate properties, meaning they must start to generate minimum yields two years after acquisition
Regional headquarters sought
Taiwan is hoping to attract more foreign companies to set up regional headquarters in the country in its bid to position the nation as an Asia-Pacific regional hub, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said yesterday.
The number of regional headquarters is expected to double from the current 150 to 300 within three years as more foreign companies expand their presence in the country, Shih said at a press conference.
Based on a ministry survey of 800 foreign companies in Taiwan, 46.2 percent said they intend to expand their businesses in Taiwan over the next three years, potentially generating investment of NT$43 billion and creating 9,500 jobs.
FSC fines Standard Chartered
The FSC yesterday fined Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) NT$6 million for lax internal control, the commission said in a statement.
The local unit of the British banking group failed to exercise due oversight and consequently an employee did not follow proper procedures when processing loan applications
Far EasTone to expand VOD
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the third-largest mobile operator in the nation, said on Monday it plans to expand the user pool of its video-on-demand (VOD) service through partnerships with smart TV brands.
Far EasTone expects its number of video service users to double from the current 50,000 to 100,000 next year, as the company has launched an application for the service that can be installed to Samsung Electronics Co’s Internet-connected TVs.
The company on Monday launched an upgraded version of the on-demand service and the app for Samsung’s smart TVs, which allows users to watch more than 500 movies and films on various devices such as PCs, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. Far EasTone expects to add 1,000 movies and films to the service’s database within one year.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.055 to close at NT$29.975. Turnover totaled US$528 million during the trading session.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six