Shares ended slightly higher yesterday, led by a rebound for chip and flat-panel stocks after their recent weak performance, analysts said.
The TAIEX finished 19.98 points, or 0.3 percent, higher at 5,891.05. Decliners marginally outnumbered gainers 330 to 311 with 188 stocks unchanged in dealings valued at NT$69.28 billion (US$2.04 billion), up from NT$65.34 billion (US$1.93 billion) on Wednesday.
The benchmark index touched a session low of 5,826.38 on concerns over accounting irregularities, after compact disc maker Summit Computer Technology Co (
Shares in AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's third-largest maker of flat screens, advanced 1.8 percent to NT$44.80, while rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), No. 4 worldwide, gained 2.2 percent to NT$45.70.
Hopes of higher product prices for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips spurred strong buying in related shares.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (
Another bright spot among the tech sector was Compal Communications Inc (華寶通訊), a major handset supplier for Motorola, buoyed by hopes that the handset maker will post strong revenue in the second half of this year.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
RATIONING: The proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US as it decides how many chips to give each country US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters. The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI
Apple Inc increased iPhone production in India by about 53 percent last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company’s efforts to avoid tariffs on China. The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India last year, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren’t public. Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India’s share of the total increasing rapidly. Apple has accelerated its expansion in the world’s most populous country in recent years, bolstered
HEADWINDS: The company said it expects its computer business, as well as consumer electronics and communications segments to see revenue declines due to seasonality Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it aims to grow its artificial intelligence (AI) server revenue more than 10-fold this year from last year, driven by orders from neocloud solutions clients and large cloud service providers. The electronics manufacturing service provider said AI server revenue growth would be driven primarily by the Nvidia Corp GB300 server platform. Server shipments are expected to increase each quarter this year, with the second half likely to outperform the first half, it said. The AI server market is expected to broaden this year as more inference applications emerge, which would drive demand for system-on-chip, application-specific integrated circuits