STOCK MARKETS
Shares rise on FBI decision
Shares in Taiwan rebounded yesterday, gaining more than 1 percent, after the FBI confirmed its decision not to pursue charges against US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, dealers said. The FBI’s statement seemed to bring relief to investors over tomorrow’s US presidential election, because it could improve Clinton’s odds of defeating Republican rival Donald Trump, a scenario global financial markets have hoped for, they said. The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended up 121.69 points, or 1.34 percent, at 9,189.84, after moving between 9,102.97 and 9,191.67, on turnover of NT$55.21 billion (US$1.75 billion).
EMPLOYMENT
Chang voted best boss: poll
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) is the boss that employees most admire and would like to emulate, a survey conducted by online job bank yes123 showed. More than one-third of those polled, or 35.3 percent, said they wished Chang were their boss. He was followed by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) with 28.5 percent, and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) with 23.7 percent.
TELECOMS
Xiaomi to open Taiwan store
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp (小米) yesterday said it plans to open its first direct sales store in Taiwan next month and its second “Mi Home” showroom in the first quarter of next year. The direct sales store is different from Mi Home, which showcases Xiaomi’s products, the company said. “The opening of the stores represents Xiaomi’s efforts to strengthen its brand image in the Taiwanese market,” Xiaomi Taiwan branch general manager Henman Lee (李佳峰) told reporters after the launch of the Xiaomi 5S Plus smartphone and Android TV device Mi Box. Lee declined to say where the direct sales store would be located.
STOCK MARKETS
Plans drawn for US election
Deputy Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) yesterday told lawmakers that the nation’s financial regulators have prepared contingency measures against market volatility stemming from the outcome of the US presidential race. Su said that the management committee, of which he is executive secretary, has readied NT$500 billion to prop up the local bourse against external exposure. Central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said that in the event of a victory for Trump, his trade protectionist and anti-immigration leaning policies would lead to diminished tax revenue, resulting in slower economic growth momentum due to a lack of funding for government spending and investment.
ECONOMY
Companies to offer bonuses
Despite weak economic growth, about 65 percent of 931 local companies said that they would offer year-end bonuses to their employees this year, a survey released yesterday by online job bank yes123 showed. The survey revealed that 64.7 percent of companies plan to give year-end bonuses this year, an increase from 52 percent last year. Only 7.5 percent of firms have decided not to give year-end bonuses, compared with 38 percent last year, while the remaining 27.8 percent were undecided. In addition, 64 percent of firms said that they would increase bonuses if GDP growth reaches 1 percent or greater this year, the survey showed.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day