Taiwan stocks rose, as United World Chinese Commercial Bank (
The TAIEX rose 64.22, or 1.4 percent, to 4687.33, bringing its gains to 4.6 percent this week. Within the index, 425 stocks rose and 57 fell. Bank and insurance stocks accounted for more than a third of the index's gains.
"There is hope that a bidding war is brewing and the price of UWCCB will appreciate,'' said Andrew Chen, head of research at Nomura Securities Ltd in Taiwan.
The total value of trade yesterday was NT$62.61 billion (US$1.82 billion), 16 percent less than the year-to-date average of NT$74.16 billion.
Shares of United World Bank rose NT$1.30, or 6.7 percent, to NT$20.60, bringing its two-day gain to 13 percent.
Cathay Life rose NT$1.50, or 4 percent, to NT$38.70. Taichung Bank rose NT$0.23, or 5.9 percent, to NT$4.15. Fubon Commercial Bank (
Transport stocks rose on further optimism that Taiwan's government will lift the ban on direct transport links with China, after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said this week he favors closer economic ties with the mainland. The Taiwan Transport Index surged 20 percent this week.
China Airlines (
Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd (
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) fell NT$0.50, or 0.7 percent, to NT$68 after the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index, a price-weighted index of 16 companies that design and make chips, fell 3.6 percent on Wednesday.
TSMC's American depositary receipts fell US$0.43, or 2.7 percent, to US$15.72, a 58 percent premium to the local stock.
Via Technologies Inc (威盛電子) fell NT$4, or 1.9 percent, to NT$209. Taiwan's biggest chipset designer said it began to ship chipsets based on Intel Corp's Pentium 4 processor, which were made without a license from the biggest chipmaker. The local company is in talks with Intel and hopes to reach an agreement on the use of Pentium 4 technology, said Richard Brown, a Via spokesman. The new chipset, priced at about US$35, is 25 percent cheaper than Intel's Brookdale product that also uses the Pentium 4, he said.
Yuanta Core Pacific Securities Co (元大京華證券) rose NT$1.30, or 7 percent, to NT$19.90. Taiwan's biggest brokerage said yesterday it will buy smaller rival Sampo Securities Co (新寶證券) for NT$10 billion, including Sampo's NT$7.2 billion of debt, based on Yuanta's closing price yesterday. Sampo rose NT$0.30, or 6.9 percent, to NT$4.67.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique