US ‘fiscal cliff’ fears hit TAIEX
The TAIEX closed lower yesterday reflecting a dive on Wall Street overnight amid concerns in Washington over a potential looming “fiscal cliff,” dealers said.
However, bargain hunters turned active during the session, rushing to pick up selected high-priced high-tech stocks to help the broader market recoup part of its earlier losses by the end of the session, they said.
The weighted index closed down 44.55 points, or 0.61 percent, at the day’s high of 7,242.63, from an earlier low of 7,190.99, on turnover of NT$68.92 billion (US$2.37 billion).
Government to cut stock tax
The Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervisory Commission have reached a consensus to cut the tax on stock transactions for warrant issuance purposes in a bid to boost turnover on the local bourse.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry said following discussions between the two agencies, the government has decided to cut the stock transaction tax for the trading measure to 0.1 percent from the current 0.3 percent.
The two agencies will hold further discussions to finalize a timeframe for the tax cut as the change will involve revisions of certain regulations, the ministry said.
Medical instruments output up
The annual output value of Taiwan’s medical instrument industry is expected to rise despite the global economic downturn, according to the results of a survey released yesterday.
The survey by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) shows that the output of the medical instrument industry is expected to exceed NT$76 billion this year, up 11.51 percent from a year earlier.
The institute adjusted its forecast upward by NT$3 billion from its previous estimate in May and mainly attributed the revision to rising sales of contact lenses, along with blood glucose monitors and test strips.
Taipei savors Australian coffee
Gloria Jean’s Coffees, the biggest coffee franchise in Australia, opened its first shop in Taiwan on Wednesday, entering a lucrative market that sees an estimated 300 million cups of coffee sold per year.
The Australian chain launched its first cafe on Taipei’s Minquan West Road.
The company plans to open another shop in Taipei early next year and three more within two years, according to Wu Chia-hsiang (吳佳祥), director of the company that operates Gloria Jean’s business in Taiwan.
Hon Hai brings in US engineers
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) plans to bring in more engineers from the US through a partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said on Wednesday at a business forum.
Hon Hai has been in talks with MIT recently to invite dozens of US engineers to its factories in Taiwan and China.
The company will offer them an environment in which to learn Chinese and make products with their own hands, Gou said.
The company will also provide the engineers with opportunities to start automated factories in the US, he added.
NT dollar declines against US
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.002 to close at NT$29.202 as the central bank intervened again to reverse the losses posted in early trading by the greenback, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$613 million during the trading session.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last