FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Reserves drop US$915m
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves last month stood at US$434.35 billion, falling US$915 million from the previous month, the central bank said on Monday. The monetary policymaker attributed the decline to the depreciation of the euro and other major reserve currencies against the US dollar, which more than offset the returns it gained from exchange reserve management. The reserves are sufficient to meet demand given that securities investment and deposits held by foreign portfolio investors last month stood at US$303.8 billion, accounting for 70 percent of foreign exchange reserves.
MACROECONOMICS
SMEs upbeat over exports
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the nation remain broadly optimistic toward export prospects amid global economic volatility, according to a global study commissioned by FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. Seventy-nine percent of SMEs saw stable or increased exports over the past year, generating an average revenue of NT$39.42 million (US$1.23 million), accounting for 70 percent of their total revenue. About 42 percent forecast an average growth of 17 percent in the year ahead. SMEs are particularly bullish on intra-regional exports, with 52 percent anticipating 15 percent revenue growth on average. The study was conducted in September by Harris Interactive.
SMARTPHONES
Catcher sales hit year high
Catcher Technology Co (可成科技), which supplies metal casings for Apple Inc iPhones, on Monday reported sales of NT$8.2 billion for last month, the company’s best sales performance this year. Revenue dropped 1.63 percent annually, but expanded 0.24 percent from the previous month’s NT$8.18 billion, a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed. Catcher forecast combined revenue this quarter would climb significantly from last quarter’s NT$20.74 billion, peaking for this year. The company’s accumulated sales in the first 11 months of this year fell 5.32 percent to NT$71.48 billion from the same period last year, the filing showed.
SMARTPHONES
Largan sales fall 9 percent
Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies camera lenses for Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Monday posted sales of NT$5.2 billion for last month, down 9 percent from NT$5.7 billion a year earlier. Sales grew 2.76 percent from the previous month’s NT$5.06 billion, Largan said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company’s combined revenue reached NT$42.9 billion in the first 11 months of this year, down 17 percent from the NT$51.88 billion the same period last year, the filing showed.
BANKING
UBS downbeat on stocks
Swiss banking giant UBS AG yesterday maintained its downbeat view for Taiwanese stocks as prospects remain dim for the technology sector, which represents about 70 percent of the local bourse. UBS wealth management executive director Hyde Chen (陳彥甫) said that global demand for smartphones remains weak, but Taiwanese stocks are attractive to international investors seeking high dividend yields. The bank also expects the US dollar’s upward trend to lose steam next year as the nation’s fiscal condition worsens, while the yen and the euro are expected to improve as central banks taper off monetary easing policies.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure