Capital Securities Corp (群益金鼎證券) has an upbeat outlook regarding local shares next year, and expects the TAIEX to hit 13,000 points on the back of an improving economy, repatriated funds and the launch of a new continuous trading system.
The TAIEX has slid slightly after it closed at 11,656.4 points on Nov. 19 — the highest closing level in the past 29 years.
The index ended 0.12 percent higher at 11,502,83 points yesterday on turnover of NT$113.270 billion (US$3.71 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The TAIEX is forecast to perform better next year, likely hovering between 10,000 and 12,100 points for most of the year, Capital Securities president Alex Chia (賈中道) told reporters at a media briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The momentum would be supported by more funds from foreign institutional investors, repatriated capital from local businesses and individuals, as well as investments by insurance companies, Chia said.
As the stock exchange plans to launch a new continuous trading system in March next year, which would generate price quotations at any given time, some foreign institutional investors who have concentrated on high-frequency trading in the nation’s futures market are likely to become more interested in investing in the spot equity market, Chia said.
“From their perspective, the exchange currently matching the quotations once every five seconds is too slow to let them use their trading skills or algorithms, but they are likely to change their minds next year,” Chia said.
Meanwhile, as more individuals and companies are expected to repatriate their funds under the government’s investment program, more money is likely to be put into the stock market, Chia said, adding that they are allowed to invest 25 percent of repatriated funds in financial ventures and keep 5 percent at their own disposal.
About 60 Taiwanese companies with operations in Hong Kong told him at a conference in the territory in late October that they were interested in returning money to Taiwan, as it might be safer and better for family wealth planning, he said.
Besides, with some companies distributing cash dividends on a quarterly basis, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), foreign investors are more willing to park their funds in the local stock market, Capital Investment Management Corp (群益證投顧) vice president Alan Tseng (曾炎裕) said.
While investors are eager to know if the TAIEX is likely to surpass 12,682 points, the all-time high recorded in 1990, it would mainly depend on the performance of the US stock market as the local stock market is highly sensitive to its movenemts, Tseng said.
Given that US President Donald Trump is likely to use policies to support the US stock market before the presidential election next year, the TAIEX might have a change of hitting 13,000 points, Tseng 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