Taiwan stocks fell, led by VIA Technologies Inc (
VIA Technologies fell NT$4, or 4.5 percent, to NT$85.
The TAIEX declined 57.90, or 1.6 percent, to 3567.63, after falling as much as 2.2 percent. Eight stocks fell for every two that rose. The total value of trade today was NT$38.9 billion (US$1.1 billion), 44 percent less than this year's average of NT$69.3 billion.
Stocks also dropped on concerns earnings at electronics firms will slide after the government said export orders and factory production fell in August for a sixth month and on concern the US, the island's biggest export market, will slide into recession.
"A lot of people are very cautious on the economy and the market and they are trying to cash out of the market," said Steven Hsieh, who manages about NT$2.5 billion at Dresdner Asset Management Taiwan Ltd, who is selling smaller market value electronic stocks.
China Airlines Co (
EVA Air's shares have dropped 31 percent since Sept. 11.
Chipmakers declined after the widely watched Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a price weighted index of 16 companies that are involved in the design and manufacture of chips, plunged 7.9 percent Wednesday.
Taiwan's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), fell NT$2 to NT$46.50. United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the second-biggest made-to-order chipmaker, fell NT1.20, or 4.4 percent, to NT$26.10.
Memory chipmakers dropped on concern about slowing demand as the spot price for their main product remains below the cost of production. The spot price for the 64Mb DRAM chip is at US$0.70, according to DRAM Exchange, a market place for memory chips.
Winbond Electronics Corp (
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the island's biggest shipping company, fell NT$0.70, or 6.5 percent, to NT$10.
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