Finance
Operations normal, XAC says
XPEC Entertainment Inc’s (樂陞科技) subsidiary XPEC Art Center Inc (XAC, 樂陞美術館) yesterday said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that its operations and finances remain normal. The filing came at the request of the exchange after XAC’s Taipei office was searched by prosecutors yesterday morning. XAC on Sept. 10 announced it plans to withdraw its share listing application at the Taipei Exchange due to its parent company’s troubles of a failed tender offer.
AWARDS
Walter Yeh wins IAEE honor
Taiwan External Trade Development Council executive vice president Walter Yeh (葉明水) was given this year’s Outstanding Achievement in Industry Leadership Award by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) for his contributions and professional commitment to the exhibitions and events industry, the council said yesterday. The council said Yeh was the first Taiwanese to receive the recognition from IAEE since the award was started in 2004.
RETAIL
Costco to open 13th store
Costco Wholesale Corp is to open a new outlet in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊) in January next year at the earliest, the US company said yesterday. It will become the company’s 13th outlet in Taiwan, after it opened its 12th in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) in April. The outlet in Sinjhuang is to cover an area of 4,000 ping (13,223m2) and be close to Fu Jen Catholic University (輔仁大學), the company was quoted as saying in media reports. Costco said it expects the Sinjhuang outlet to attract customers from Sinjhuang, Banqiao District (板橋), Tucheng District (土城) and Linkou District (林口).
STOCK EXCHANGE
Shares rally after initial fall
Taiwanese shares yesterday recovered earlier losses after some major old economy stocks staged a rebound, pushing up the broader market into positive territory by the end of the session, dealers said. Turnover remained thin, with many investors remaining cautious over upcoming earnings reports from heavyweights at home and in the US, and following a lackluster performance on Wall Street overnight, where investors were wary of a possible swifter-than-anticipated US Federal Reserve interest rate hike, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 46.36 points, or 0.51 percent, at 9,222.58, after moving between 9,175.07 and 9,222.58, on turnover of NT$62.50 billion (US$1.97 billion). The market opened down 1.15 points at 9,175.07 and fell to the day’s low of 9,157 before closing at the day’s high of 9,222.58. Strong showings by textiles, cement, glass, plastics and chemical shares helped to vault the weighted index back into the black.
BANKING
Local yuan deposits rise
Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks picked up 1.96 percent last month to 311.83 billion yuan (US$46.3 billion), gaining for two months running, as investment interest in the Chinese currency recovered somewhat, the central bank said. Yuan deposits at offshore banking units increased 6.16 percent to 36.28 billion yuan, the first rebound this year, as companies built up positions, the central bank said. Yuan deposits in domestic banking units edged up 1.44 percent to 275.56 billion yuan after the currency showed signs of stabilization, it said. It remains to be seen if the trend sustains, as yuan volatility is set to intensify this month, the bank said.
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