EQUITIES
Tariff fears lower stocks
Local shares took a beating yesterday after the US listed US$200 billion of Chinese goods that are to be hit by new tariffs, escalating trade friction between the world’s two largest economies. As investors rushed to dump large-cap stocks, in particular in the bellwether electronics sector, the TAIEX fell below 10,700 points, but recovered some of its earlier losses on bargain-hunting by government-led funds, dealers said. The TAIEX ended the session down 80.05 points, or 0.74 percent, at 10,676.84 points, with turnover of NT$118.84 billion (US$3.9 billion).
STEELMAKERS
Dumping deflates firm’s stock
Shares of Chien Shing Stainless Steel Co (千興不銹鋼) yesterday plunged by the daily maximum of 10 percent after chairman Yeh Shuo-tang (葉碩堂) was detained over alleged dumping of industrial waste. The company confirmed that Yeh and former executive Sun Shih-kuo (孫世國) had on Tuesday been detained for allegedly engaging in the illegal dumping of tens of thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste at the company’s factories, but said that operations remain normal. The company said it would soon elect a new acting chairman.
ELECTRONICS
Supplier to spur Chinese unit
Electrical terminal supplier K.S. Terminals Inc (健和興端子) yesterday said its board approved a plan to inject US$20 million into its Chinese unit. The company has in the past few years teamed up with Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd (華為) to explore opportunities in China’s growing digital infrastructure market. Cumulative revenue in the first half of this year edged up 0.76 percent from last year to NT$1.68 billion, company data showed.
HOSPITALITY
Regent sells mooncake sets
Regent Taipei (台北晶華酒店), the flagship property of Regent Hotels & Resorts (晶華麗晶酒店集團), on Tuesday launched a preorder sale for mooncake gift sets to boost food sales ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which this year falls on Sept. 24. The hotel said it aims to sell 36,000 gift sets at the same prices as last year, but through different sales channels. That would mean a 20 percent increase in volume from last year, it said.
TAXES
Overall revenue up 7.1%
Overall tax revenue increased 7.1 percent year-on-year to NT$1.334 trillion in the first half of this year, led by increases in corporate income tax, business tax and securities transaction tax revenues, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Last month alone, tax revenue dropped 2.4 percent from a year earlier to NT$478.9 billion due to a high comparison base in corporate income tax, housing tax and gift tax revenues, the ministry said.
LABOR
May wages rise 2.48%
Average regular wages in Taiwan in May increased 2.48 percent from a year earlier to NT$40,874, following an annual increase of 2.26 percent in April, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said on Tuesday. In the first five months of this year, average regular wages rose 2.55 percent from a year earlier to NT$40,720, the agency said. Meanwhile, working hours in May averaged 178.8, up 10.8 hours, or 6.43 percent, from a year earlier. In the first five months of this year, average working hours stood at 164.8, up three hours, or 1.85 percent, it added.
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
Luxury fashion powerhouse Prada SpA has acknowledged the ancient Indian roots of its new sandal design after the debut of the open-toe footwear sparked a furor among Indian artisans and politicians thousands of miles from the catwalk in Italy. Images from Prada’s fashion show in Milan last weekend showed models wearing leather sandals with a braided design that resembled handmade Kolhapuri slippers with designs dating back to the 12th century. A wave of criticism in the media and from lawmakers followed over the Italian brand’s lack of public acknowledgement of the Indian sandal design, which is named after a city in the
The US overtaking China as Taiwan’s top export destination could boost industrial development and wage growth, given the US is a high-income economy, an economist said yesterday. However, Taiwan still needs to diversify its export markets due to the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s administration, said Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮), an economics professor at National Central University. Taiwan’s exports soared to a record US$51.74 billion last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and continued orders, with information and communication technology (ICT) and audio/video products leading all sectors. The US reclaimed its position as Taiwan’s top export market, accounting for
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
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