TAIEX falls on global worries
The TAIEX came under pressure and closed in negative territory yesterday amid cautious sentiment ahead of a policymaking meeting scheduled by the European Central Bank (ECB) for later in the day, dealers said.
Concerns over the global economy kept weighing on share prices in the local market to prevent the index from recovering by the end of the session from a slump seen a day earlier, they said.
The weighted index closed down 40.72 points, or 0.55 percent, at 7,326.72, after moving between 7,313.56 and 7,390.76, on turnover of NT$74.62 billion (US$2.50 billion).
Semiconductor R&D up
Research and development (R&D) spending for the global semiconductor sector is forecast to reach a record US$53.4 billion this year, up nearly 10 percent from a year earlier, according to market advisory firm IC Insights.
R&D spending for the semiconductor sector this year is estimated to account for 16.2 percent of its revenue, the US-based semiconductor research firm said in a semi-annual report yesterday.
Last year, the sector poured US$48.7 billion into R&D, with the top 12 companies each spending more than US$1 billion, the report said.
Top on the spending list was Intel Corp, which spent US$8.35 billion on R&D last year, up 27 percent from a year earlier, the biggest increase among all players in the sector.
Qualcomm Inc spent US$2.03 billion, up 25 percent from 2010, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, injected US$1.16 billion into R&D last year, a year-over-year increase of 23 percent.
TSMC is ranked the 10th-biggest spender on R&D in the world, according to IC Insights.
Lenovo to buy CCE
Chinese computer giant Lenovo (聯想) said it would acquire Brazilian consumer electronics manufacturing group CCE, in an attempt to tap new markets.
Lenovo will pay 300 million reals (US$147 million) for 100 percent ownership in three firms that make up CCE to complete the acquisition, according to a Lenovo statement posted on its Web site late on Wednesday.
The Chinese firm sees growth potential in the Brazilian consumer electronics market and aims to enhance its presence in Latin America as a result of the deal.
Shares of Lenovo gained 3.9 percent to HK$6.36 in Hong Kong trading.
SinoPac Securities eyes peers
SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券), the securities arm of SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控), is in acquisition talks with small peers to expand its market share after buying Pacific Securities Co (太平洋證券) for NT$3.69 billion (US$123.1 million) in June, the brokerage’s president Eric Chuang (莊銘福) said on Wednesday.
The light stock turnover this year prompts small securities houses to exit the market on concern the trading volume may not recover after the introduction of capital gains tax on securities investments, starting next year, Chuang said.
SinoPac Securities would target peers with at least 9 percent of annual returns on equities in its acquisition hunt, he said.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.003 to close at NT$29.902 as traders used a rising euro as cause to buy into the local currency, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$713 million during the trading session.
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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