Stocks fell yesterday, led by petrochemical makers such as Formosa Plastics Corp (
Petrochemical makers buy crude to process into plastic raw materials such as styrene monomer and polyvinyl chloride.
Television footage of captured and killed US soldiers also damped investor confidence.
"Investors are worried the war on Iraq might not progress smoothly," Tom Fu (
"The weekend battle footage showed the grim side of war," he said.
The TAIEX shed 16.24, or 0.4 percent, to 4,570.68 by the close. MSCI Taiwan futures for March delivery in Singapore fell 1.1 percent to 196.40. The futures index fell 0.9 percent to 4,541. About five stocks declined for every four that gained.
Formosa Plastics fell NT$0.50 to NT$45.60. Taiwan Styrene Monomer Corp (台苯), a plastic feedstock maker, fell NT$0.40 to NT$29.60.
Crude oil rose as much as 2.9 percent after US Marines engaged in the fiercest fighting of the war in Iraq at the town of Nasiriyah, raising concern protracted hostilities may disrupt supplies from the Middle East.
Some exporters such as United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) and Delta Electronics Inc (台達電子) rose on expectation export orders and factory production increased in February as China bought more cellphone components, computers chips and steel.
Export orders rose 9.9 percent from a year earlier to US$11.2 billion after a 15 percent gain in January, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
UMC, the world's second-largest maker of computer chips on a subcontracting basis, rose NT$0.10, or 0.4 percent, to NT$21.70. Delta Electronics, the world's biggest maker of computer power-supply systems, rose NT$0.60, or 1.5 percent, to NT$39.80.
China Development Financial Holding Corp (
China Airlines Co (華航), advanced NT$0.10, or 0.8 percent, to NT$13.50. China Air and rival EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) are raising freight rates for Europe-bound cargo flights by as much as 50 percent because of strong demand, a Chinese-language newspaper reported on Sunday.
EVA Airways rose NT$0.15, to NT$12.30.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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