STOCK MARKET
NSF owns NT$5.49bn
The state-run National Stabilization Fund (NSF, 國安基金), which in April said it would exit the stock market, owned NT$5.49 billion (US$1780.6 million) in shares as of the end of last month, compared with NT$18.7 billion as of the end of March, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday in a statement. In the April-to-June quarter, the fund had booked gains valued at NT$1.15 billion with unrealized gains of NT$69.42 million, the ministry said. The ministry said the fund is on track to exit the stock market, despite the UK’s vote to leave the EU on June 23.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Foundry capacity to grow 5%
Global foundry capacity is expected to grow 5 percent annually to reach 6 million wafers per month next year, boosted mainly by Taiwan and China, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said yesterday. Taiwan will have the largest foundry capacity in the world, accounting for more than 55 percent of 12-inch foundry capacity, thanks to capacity expansion from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), SEMI said in a news release. China is to grab a 20 percent share of global foundry market next year, given a rapid capacity expansion primarily from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), SEMI said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC denies China listing
TSMC yesterday denied reports it was considering going public on China’s stock market. TSMC made the remark after Chinese-language Commercial Times reported the possibility in a front-page story, which cited a Chinese official on Tuesday as saying that Taiwan-based high-tech firms were being encouraged to list on the Chinese market.
ELECTRONICS
Flytech earns NT$1.42bn
Flytech Technology Co (飛捷科技), a leading point-of-sale (POS) system manufacturer, on Monday reported record-high revenue of NT$1.42 billion in the second quarter, thanks in part to contribution of NT$76 million from its newly acquired Box Technologies Ltd last month. Flytech, which also produces medical panel PCs, said the UK subsidiary would help it to expand its presence in the UK and Europe and expects its total revenue in the second half to be higher than the first half’s NT$2.76 billion.
MACROECONOMY
Central bank auctions CDs
The central bank yesterday said it had auctioned NT$30 billion in two-year certificates of deposit (CDs) at an average interest rate of 0.413 percent, marking the lowest level in the bank’s history, as the market remained awash in liquidity. The latest CD sale came after the bank last month cut its benchmark interest rates by 12.5 basis points. Coupled with the bank’s recent sale in 364-day CDs to absorb excess funds from the banking system, the bank has sold NT$2.44 trillion of the notes, which would have the same effect as hiking the required reserve ratio by raising interest rates by nearly 7.5 percentage points.
STEEL
Chinese exports near record
China’s steel exports climbed to the second-highest level on record last month, as shipments ramp up amid escalating trade tensions. Sales advanced 23 percent from a year earlier to 10.94 million tonnes, China’s General Administration of Customs said. Exports in the first six months were 57.12 million tonnes, the seventh on-year increase in a row and the most ever for the period.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
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