EQUITIES
TAIEX sheds 0.25 percent
Local shares yesterday edged lower, but the TAIEX remained above 11,000 points due to support from small and medium-sized stocks. The TAIEX closed down 27.85 points, or 0.25 percent, at 11,006.34, with turnover totaling NT$137 billion (US$4.48 billion). The Taiwan Stock Exchange’s eight major stock categories reported a mixture of gains and losses. Falling stocks outnumbered gainers 486 to 314, with 120 unchanged. On the currency market, the New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar, advancing NT$0.051 to close at NT$30.551. Turnover totaled US$854 million during the trading session at Taipei Forex Inc.
HEALTHCARE
Apex Medical shares soar
Apex Medical Corp (雃博) shares yesterday rose by the daily limit of 10 percent after the respiratory therapy equipment maker announced that it has received a NT$380 million investment from CDIB Capital Group (中華開發資本) and the National Development Fund (國發基金). CDIB Capital and the fund have agreed to participate in Apex Medical’s private placement by subscribing for 17.53 million shares at NT$22.1 apiece, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Thursday. The firm said it would use the proceeds to establish overseas outlets and invest in offshore units, in addition to researching new products and technologies. The shares closed at NT$28.45 in Taipei trading.
ELECTRONICS
AVC posts record revenue
PC cooler maker Asia Vital Components Co Ltd (AVC, 奇鋐) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$75 million for last month, or earnings per share of NT$0.21, up 17.6 percent from the same period last year. Revenue grew 14.73 percent year-on-year to NT$2.65 billion, a record high, AVC said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The company is a major beneficiary of rising demand for base stations and servers, but as its shares have become volatile, the regulator required AVC to release last month’s financial results. Its shares closed 1.87 percent higher at NT$27.25 yesterday, after falling 4.29 percent on Thursday.
INTERNET
Bytedance deal mulled
Softbank Corp, KKR & Co and General Atlantic plan to make a giant investment in fast-rising Chinese Internet player Beijing Bytedance Technology Co Ltd (北京字節跳動科技), according to people familiar with the matter, a deal that could make it the world’s biggest start-up. The latest round of financing could value Bytedance, parent of news aggregator Toutiao (頭條) and video sensation Tik Tok (抖音), at about US$75 billion, the people said. The deal is still being discussed and the terms could change, the people said.
automAKERs
Level 4 vehicle unveiled
Hua-Chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co Ltd (HAITEC, 華創車電技術中心), a Yulon Group (裕隆集團) affiliate, and PC brand Acer Inc (宏碁) on Thursday unveiled the nation’s first level 4 autonomous concept vehicle. The smart electric vehicle integrates core technologies such as data analysis and management, which cater to the nation’s complex road networks, Yulon Group said. The concept vehicle developed by HAITEC and Acer is designed based on an open source platform, providing companies interested in entering the field of autonomous vehicles easier access to research and development ecosystems, Yulon said.
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
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
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