M2 expanded in June
Banks' lending and investment rose last month for the first time in almost two years, helping expand the nation's money supply at the fastest pace since January, the central bank said.
Total loans and investments by major financial institutions rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier, the first increase since August 2001, the central bank said in a statement.
M2, the broadest measure of the money supply, grew 2.9 percent after expanding 2.6 percent in May.
M1B money supply rose 9.2 percent last month after increasing 7.1 percent in May.
M1A, which tracks net currency in circulation plus checking accounts and passbook deposits, grew 6.6 percent after expanding 7.3 percent the previous month, today's report showed.
Foreign investment in the nation's stocks and increased trade receipts also helped boost M2 last month, the central bank said.
Cathay Financial's Q2 profit up
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation's biggest financial services company, indicated net income in the second quarter surged more than 13-fold following its acquisition of the country's 11th-biggest bank by assets.
Profit rose to NT$6.5 billion (US$189 million) from NT$486 million in the year-earlier quarter, according to figures Bloomberg News derived by subtracting first-quarter results from the first-half figures Cathay Financial reported in an e-mailed statement.
The company didn't elaborate.
Showa Denko to ally with Trace
Showa Denko K.K., a Japanese aluminum smelter and maker of plastics and resins, said Thursday that it will ally with closely held Taiwan's Trace Storage Technol-ogy Corp (和喬科技) to expand production of hard disks for computers, consumer audiovisual equipment and car navigators.
The company also said that it will increase production capacity for its hard disks.
It has developed a flexible solar panel that may be used for recharging portable consumer electronics equipment, AFX-Asia reported yesterday.
Windance complex opens
A shopping-entertainment complex styled the largest in Asia opened in Hsinchu yesterday.
The Windance complex (風城購物中心), comprising 12 storeys above ground and five basement floors, is home to some 120 specialty shops, 15 restaurants, two department stores, a movie theater, indoor amusement park and five-star hotel.
Citing a survey by a local public relations agency, Windance officials said the complex, with a total floor area of 362,321m2, is the largest of its kind in Asia.
Most of the facilities are open with the exception of the movie theater, amusement park and hotel, which will have to wait until later this year.
NT dollar slips
The NT dollar dipped against the US dollar yesterday, falling NT$0.007 to NT$34.405. Turnover totalled US$260 million.
However, the NT dollar was poised for its first winning week in three after overseas investor purchases of the nation stocks boosted speculation of rising demand for the currency.
Foreign money managers bought NT$7.8 billion (US$227 million) more of stocks than they sold this week through Thursday, according to Bloomberg data.
"Relatively high demand for Taiwan's stocks from overseas investors strengthened the Tai-wan dollar,'' said Gary Huang, a foreign-exchange trader at Union Bank of Taiwan.
Huang correctly forecast a decline in the currency on May 29.
Gains were limited by concern the central bank will sell its currency to protect exporters.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
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