TAIEX down on electronics
The TAIEX closed down yesterday, with the market’s weighted index plunging below the five-day moving average of 7,776 on losses among large-cap electronics stocks.
The weighted benchmark TAIEX closed down 50.90 points, or 0.65 percent, at 7,755.09. Turnover was NT$87.44 billion (US$3.01 billion).
A total of 1,958 stocks closed up, 2,981 finished down, and 388 remained unchanged.
Despite the weak momentum for the day’s session, four of the market’s eight major categories ended in positive territory Textile stocks, paper and pulp shares, construction and the financial sector.
TPK sees record-high profits
Touch-panel manufacturer TPK Holdings Co (宸鴻) reported record-high revenue for the last quarter yesterday due to growing demand from tablet and smartphone customers,
The company said that its fourth-quarter revenue reached NT$61.48 million, up 72.6 percent from the third quarter and 35.2 percent higher than a year earlier.
Last month’s revenue was NT$22.38 billion, up 26 percent year-on-year and down 3.7 percent month-on-month, TPK said. Revenue totaled NT$173.66 billion this year, an increase of 21.1 percent from 2011, it said.
Per capita national debt falls
National debt declined to NT$224,000 per person as of the end of last year, up NT$7,000 per person from the end of November last year, as routine spending at the end of every year raises the debt amount, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
National debt, which includes the central government’s long-term and short-term debt, amounted to NT$5.225 trillion as of the end of last year, up NT$165 billion from a month earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
Government bonds — the central government’s outstanding debt with a maturity of more than a year — totaled NT$4.95 trillion, while treasury bills — the central government’s outstanding debt with a maturity of less than a year — stood at NT$275 billion, data showed.
The ministry also announced that local government debt information will be released on Wednesday next week.
McDonald’s staff in exchange
More than 2,000 Chinese employees of McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant chain, arrived in Taiwan yesterday as part of the company’s exchange program for on-the-job training, according to officials at the National Immigration Agency.
The agency said it received an application from Taiwan’s McDonald’s for the visit by its Chinese employees in November last year. It added that it had made preparations to handle the large number of Chinese visitors and would monitor the group’s schedule in Taiwan closely.
Mercedes claims top sales
Mercedes-Benz Taiwan Ltd claimed it had maintained its position as the top foreign premium car brand in Taiwan last year, a title the company has held for four years in a row, the company said in a statement.
The company did not disclose how many premium cars it sold last year in Taiwan. Overall, Mercedes-Benz sold 13,392 vehicles in the country, the statement said.
Based on the latest industry tallies released last week that showed a total of 365,871 cars were sold in Taiwan last year, Mercedes-Benz enjoyed a market share of 3.66 percent.
NT same against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar closed unchanged at NT$29.125 against the US dollar yesterday.
Turnover totaled US$530 million during the trading session.
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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