■ Chip spending still up
The spike in oil prices and subsequent fears of inflation have not deflated the surge in semiconductor spending, findings from an industry analyst showed yesterday.
Semiconductor equipment makers posted US$1.61 billion in worldwide bookings or new orders last month, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).
The figure was up 128 percent from the corresponding month last year.
"Bookings have increased sequentially for 11 months and are at the highest point since early 2001," SEMI's president and chief executive officer Stanley Myers said in a statement published in The Business Times.
As for regional growth rates, SEMI said Taiwan will grow the fastest this year, with semiconductor equipment spending rising 57 percent to US$4.6 billion.
■ Uni-President ups investment
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) plans to invest NT$600 million (US$18 million) in China this year to build new production lines after food sales in the first seven months rose about 10 percent.
Taiwan's biggest food company had about a quarter increase in profit in China from January through last month, company spokesman Simon Hung (洪世民) said. Profit increased after Uni-President raised prices of its instant noodles last quarter, he said.
Uni-President had invested NT$11.3 billion as of March 31.
■ Bank optimistic about Taiwan
JP Morgan Chase Bank said it is cautiously optimistic about Taiwan's economic outlook in the second half of this year and expect a stable growth momentum over the same time, the US investment bank said in a statement Monday.
"We expect the Taiwan economy's growth momentum to settle into a more stable mode going into the second of this year," said Grace Ng (吳向紅), an economist of JP Morgan's Asia Economic Research.
The bank maintained a real GDP growth forecast of 6 percent for Taiwan this year, Ng said.
Taiwan raised the official GDP growth forecast for this year to 5.87 percent from 5.41 percent estimated in May, the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics reported last week.
Taiwan's trade for last growth point towards a resilient export sector going into the third quarter but the deceleration in capital goods imports is worrisome, JP Morgan said.
■ Firms report earnings
As of Friday, 94 out of 675 companies listed on the TAIEX and 55 out of 458 firms on the Gretai Stock Exchange market have reported their first six-month earnings reports, the Financial Supervisory Commission announced Monday at a press conference.
"We did not see anything unusual this year," said Lu Tung-ying (呂東英), a member of Financial Supervision Commission, amid concerns that many listed companies delayed their earnings reports following the Procomp Informatics Inc's (博達科技) financial scandal in June.
"Listed companies usually finalize their reports and act to announce their half-yearly earnings figures in droves during the last week of August," Lu added.
In terms of execution rate, 13.92 percent of TAIEX-listed companies had announced their earnings reports as of Friday, compared with 10.3 percent in the same period of last year. As for GRETAI Stock Exchange-listed firms, the ratio was 12 percent as of Friday, compared with 9.38 percent a year earlier.
■ NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.022 to close at NT$34.068 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$450 million.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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