EQUITIES
TAIEX slides on Wall Street
Local shares yesterday closed lower as investors took cues from losses suffered on Wall Street in the wake of disappointing corporate earnings, but the TAIEX still managed to stand above 11,200 points due to ample liquidity. The TAIEX ended down 31.58 points, or 0.28 percent, at 11,239.67 on turnover of NT$139.351 billion (US$4.55 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$5.01 billion of shares on the main board after a net buy of NT$13.82 billion the previous day, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
BANKING
Average interest rates fall
The nation’s five major state-run banks last month saw their average lending interest rates fall to 1.39 percent, down 0.05 percentage points from 1.44 percent a month earlier. The five lenders are Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行). The rate decrease indicates lower loan demand by firms to increase their working capital and reflects a fall in interest rates for consumer loans, the central bank said in a statement. Excluding government loans, interest rates averaged 1.415 percent, down 0.025 percentage points from 1.44 percent in August, the central bank said.
TRANSPORTATION
Uber teams up with Q Taxi
Uber Taiwan has partnered with local taxi dispatcher Q Taxi (華麗交通) to enable Uber drivers to continue providing services in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ multipurpose taxi program. Drivers who have passed exams to gain a commercial driver’s license were able to register with Q Taxi beginning yesterday, Uber said. Despite using the same app, consumers are to see different pricing for Uber’s service, as the company and its partners are required to charge a minimum fee like traditional taxis, the company said. The minimum fee, set by local city governments, changes among different regions, Uber said, adding that it is NT$70 in Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, but NT$95 in Taoyuan.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Taiwan Liposome trims loss
Taiwan Liposome Co Ltd (台微體) on Tuesday reported lower operating expenses for last quarter, helping narrow third-quarter net losses compared with a year earlier. The developer of generic drugs used to treat breast and ovarian cancer said that its operating expenses fell 9.5 percent year-on-year to NT$200 million and that net losses totaled NT$180 million last quarter, down from NT$200 million in the same period last year. Net losses per share were NT$2.8 for last quarter, Taiwan Liposome said, adding that in the first three quarters of this year, cumulative losses per share were NT$8.35, down from NT$10.68 a year earlier.
TECHNOLOGY
Firms showcase innovation
A delegation of 10 Taiwanese tech start-ups is participating in the three-day MWC Los Angeles trade show, which began on Tuesday, to display their 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Among them, TMY Technology Inc (稜研科技) is showing off its millimeter-wave beamforming technology for 5G communications applications, the Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會) said. CarKit AI Inc (聯圖智能) is to demonstrate its AI voice assistant for use in vehicles, while Jarvish Inc (酷設工坊) would showcase an AI-enabled helmet with a voice control function, the association 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