■ Shares rise for a second day
Shares rose for a second day yesterday with foreign investors snapping up stocks that had fallen to attractive levels. Tourism and transportation stocks led the gains.
The TAIEX gained 17.31 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,988.37. The main board's rise followed a 2.1 percent rally on Wednesday.
Analysts said demand from both foreign and domestic investors pushed up prices yesterday as many companies have reported solid revenue for last month and some stocks offer good value after recent falls.
Net buying of Taiwan shares by foreign institutional investors was particularly heavy yesterday at NT$14.35 billion (US$427 million), representing their largest net buying since the NT$15.78 billion recorded last Feb. 25.
■ Koo's position in jeopardy
Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday said Angelo Koo (辜仲瑩), president of China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), might risk losing his management position in the company if he fails to raise his shareholding to 20 percent as promised.
Koo, whose KGI Securities Co (中信證券) has more than a 6.2 percent stake in China Development, teamed up with the finance ministry -- which has a 7 percent stake in China Development -- to secure the majority of seats on China Development's board in April last year.
According to the agreement he made with the finance ministry, Koo must boost his share to between 15 and 20 percent within two years.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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