TAIEX falls on ‘fiscal cliff’ fears
The TAIEX pulled back yesterday following losses on Wall Street overnight because of fresh concerns over the looming “fiscal cliff” in the US, dealers said.
Technology stocks, especially “Apple concept stocks,” led the local bourse’s downward trend, as investors scrambled to lock in profits they had accumulated in recent sessions, they said.
However, some old economy stocks proved resilient, which prevented the index from falling further, they added.
The weighted index closed down 58.32 points, or 0.75 percent, at 7,698.77, on turnover of NT$96.72 billion (US$3.32 billion).
The machinery and electronics sector scored the biggest losses among the eight major sectors, finishing down 1.2 percent.
Pulp and paper stocks shed 0.63 percent, plastics and chemicals lost 0.6 percent, and the construction sector closed down 0.59 percent.
Financials fell 0.54 percent, cement stocks lost 0.14 percent and foodstuffs dropped 0.13 percent, while textiles bucked the downtrend, rising 0.57 percent.
Nanya raises NT$9bn in sale
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s largest DRAM chipmaker, has raised NT$9 billion by selling as many as 5.29 billion common shares at NT$1.7 per share through a private placement.
The buyers were four of its Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) affiliates — Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Chemicals and Fiber (台化) and Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) — with each firm subscribing to 1.32 billion shares, according to separate filings by the four companies.
The chipmaker said it planned to use the proceeds to improve its financial structure, repay bank loans and replenish its operating funds, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
TLC raises IPO price
Taiwan Liposome Co Ltd (TLC, 台灣微脂體) yesterday announced that it was raising its initial public offering (IPO) price from NT$128 to NT$158, with the stock debuting on the GRETAI Securities Market on Friday next week.
The company plans to issue 4.62 million new shares and raise NT$730.28 million to improve its gross margin and strengthen its bottom line.
TLC developed drugs used to treat breast cancer and ovarian cancer (such as Lipo-Dox and Doxisome), as well as peripheral vascular disease (ProFlow).
The company is expected to invest NT$1.15 billion to develop new drugs from this year through 2016.
Laser alliance formed
More than 100 companies involved in laser machinery, manufacturing and applications yesterday gathered together to form the Laser Valley Industry Alliance in southern Taiwan.
The alliance expects to integrate the resources of companies in the area to form laser “clusters” and a strong supply chain.
Jon Hsu (徐紹中), executive director of the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (工研院) southern branch, said that in the initial stage, the “Laser Valley” project would increase the industry’s output from NT$4 billion now to NT$20 billion by 2016.
He said the US, Japan and European countries are also developing this key technology because of its many applications — in welding, cutting, drilling, imaging, 3D printing and biomedical operations — and Taiwan does not want to be left behind.
NT$ slides against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar dropped against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.001 to close at NT$29.102.
Turnover was US$705 million.
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