Taiwan's key stock index rose, led by Cathay Life Insurance Co (
Leaving the broad market mixed, Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC,
The TAIEX rose 18.25 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,465.83 after earlier falling as much as 1.6 percent. Within the index, 249 stocks fell and 222 rose. The total value of shares traded yesterday was NT$65.7 billion (US$1.9 billion), down from NT$98.5 billion on Wednesday and NT$125.3 billion Tuesday.
"Taiwan's heavy concentration on technology is hurting" Taiwan technology stocks, said Frank Chiang, who helps manage US$750 million in global emerging markets at Montgomery Asset Management in San Francisco. "The economy is not doing well, unemployment is up and domestic consumption is slowing. It's not a good situation."
Chiang isn't buying any more Taiwan stocks and favors Korean shares.
Taiwan's economy contracted 4.21 percent in the third quarter and 2.35 percent in the second. The jobless rate rose to 5.33 percent in October, a record.
Next year, Taiwan may widen the 7 percent daily limit by which stocks may rise and fall, Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (
Cathay Life rose NT$1.60, or 3.9 percent, to NT$43.10 after chairman Tsai Hong-tu (
Made-to-order chipmakers declined after the widely watched Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a price-weighted index of 16 companies involved in the design and production of chips, plunged 4.7 percent yesterday.
TSMC fell NT$1, or 1.4 percent, to NT$73. TSMC's US shares fell 6.4 percent to US$15.32 yesterday.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
China Development Industrial Bank (
Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
Hua Nan Commercial Bank (
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
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
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
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