Property-related stocks looked set for a rebound in the near term following the US Federal Reserve’s announcement of an open-ended third round of quantitative easing (QE3) last week, a Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) analyst said in a client note yesterday.
Terry Liu (劉向晴), a researcher at Fubon Securities’ equity research team, said the QE3-driven liquidity and Taiwan’s continuously low interest rates are likely to support housing prices and volume.
“Indeed, evidence from QE1 and QE2 initiated in 2008 and 2010, respectively, shows outperformance of the Taiwan property index after the QE measures,” Liu wrote in the note.
Based on data compiled by Fubon Securities and the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the building material and construction stock index — a gauge of the nation’s property sector development — had risen 9 percent within one month of the launch of QE1 against the TAIEX’s 3 percent increase over the same period, and increased 4 percent within two months against the TAIEX’s zero percent increase.
During the QE2 period, the property index had increased 10 percent one month after the practice, versus a 4 percent rise on the TAIEX and 14 percent within two months compared with TAIEX’s 9 percent expansion, the data showed.
In yesterday’s trading, the property index rose 1.21 percent, outperforming the benchmark index’s 0.31 percent growth, TWSE data showed.
Cathay Real Estate Development Co (國泰建設), one of the sector’s major players, for example, has seen its share price rise 37.68 percent so far this year to close at NT$14.25 yesterday.
Shares of Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) rose 1.08 percent to NT$56.2 yesterday, while Hung Poo Real Estate Development Co (宏普建設) was up 0.97 percent to NT$31.3 and Huaku Construction Co (華固建設) edged up 0.69 percent to NT$72.8.
Despite facing a global and domestic economic slowdown, the property sector appears likely to gain further market momentum following several successful auctions last quarter and more auctions scheduled in Taipei later this month, Liu said, including beverage supplier Hey-Song Corp’s (黑松) major residential land sale and Prince Motors Co’s (太子汽車) office building auction.
“A likely price premium on the HeySong land will return the market’s focus to the residential market, especially as recent policies have become more accommodative,” Liu wrote.
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