Stocks advanced for a second day after a report in the US showed manufacturing gained in February, suggesting a recovery in demand from Taiwan's biggest export market for semiconductors.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
The TWSE Index added 83.27, or 1.4 percent, to 5957.75 as 292 stocks fell while 199 rose. The total value of trade was NT$165.4 billion (US$4.7 billion), the highest since Jan. 25 and more than two-thirds above the six-month daily average of NT$98 billion.
Chipmakers rose after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a price-weighted index of companies that design and make chips, gained 5.9 percent yesterday.
TSMC, the largest made-to-order chipmaker, which sold more than two-thirds of its semiconductors to the US last year, rose NT$4.50, or 5.2 percent, to NT$91. Rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
Computer-memory-chip makers rose after the price of a 128-megabit dynamic random access memory chip gained 2.3 percent to US$4.39 yesterday, according to DRAM Exchange, a market place for memory chips. Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's No.2 semiconductor maker, said prices are rising with demand.
Nanya Technology Corp (
Ambit Microsystems Corp (
Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) rose NT$2.80, or 6.7 percent, to NT$44.90. Taiwan's second-largest maker of flat screens said it plans to invest NT$30 billion to build a plant making components for the screens.
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) NT$0.20, or 1.1 percent, to NT$18.20. Taiwan's largest shipping company by market value said Singapore's PSA Corp offered to cut terminal fees in a bid to prevent Evergreen from moving its transshipment hub out of the busiest port to Malaysia to lower costs.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) rose NT$5, or 3.1 percent, to NT$168. A unit of Taiwan's largest maker of computer cables and connectors plans to join a group led by Cando Corp (劍度) that's buying Hynix Semiconductor Inc's flat-panel display business, local media reported, without citing anyone.
Premier Image Technology Corp (普立爾) rose NT$0.50, or 0.6 percent, to NT$85. The biggest maker of compact cameras forecasts 2002 sales may rise by 25 percent to NT$14 billion from last year as it wins new orders, the Economic Daily News reported, citing the company. Premier will start shipping cameras to Hewlett-Packard Co from this month, the paper reported.
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