The nation's main stock index had its biggest decline in eight months, led by United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), on a report the chipmaker will fire more workers as demand continues to slump.
UMC fell NT$0.90, or 2.4 percent, to NT$36.40, after falling to as low as NT$36.
The TAIEX fell 152.10, or 3.5 percent, to 4,219.89, its biggest decline since Nov. 20, 2000. Within the index, 423 stocks fell and 47 rose. The total value of trade was NT$38.48 billion (US$1.1 billion), or half of this year's daily average of NT$77.75 billion.
In the last three months, the index has slumped 28 percent in US dollar terms on concern a slowing economy will increase non-performing loans at banks, eroding confidence in the island's financial institutions.
"The economy is suffering from overdependence on technology, and weak demand for products has led to a collapse in export growth," said Bill Roden, who helps manage US$600 million in global emerging market investments at AXA Investment Managers UK Ltd. "The resulting decline in corporate profits has not only hurt investor confidence, but has also hit unemployment and ultimately, domestic consumption."
Computer makers dropped after Apple Computer Inc said fiscal third-quarter profit fell 70 percent and sales show no signs of picking up. Acer Inc (宏電) fell a full NT$1.40, or 7 percent, to NT$18.60. Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which makes motherboards and notebook computers, fell NT$9, or 6 percent, to NT$142. Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) fell NT$7.50, or 6.8 percent, to NT$102.50.
Chunghwa Telecom Co Ltd (中華電信) fell NT$2.40, or 5.5 percent, to NT$41, a record low. While the nation's biggest phone company increased its customer numbers by 8.8 percent in the second quarter from the first, analysts and investors said they expect mobile customer growth to slide as more than 80 percent of the nation's 22 million people have at least one mobile phone account. The stock has dropped 59 percent since making its debut last October.
Premier Image Technology Corp (普立爾科技) fell NT$0.80, or 1.9 percent, to NT$41.40. The biggest maker of compact digital cameras said it delayed its NT$2.2 billion (US$62.7 million) acquisition of closely held Tekom Technologies Inc after Tekom customer Polaroid Corp defaulted on interest payments.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電) fell NT$0.50, or 0.8 percent, to NT$62, after falling to as low as NT$61.
The biggest made-to-order chipmaker fell after Intel Corp, the biggest chipmaker, said it expects third-quarter sales will fall to between US$6.2 billion and US$6.8 billion because of falling chip prices and weaker than expected demand.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)