UMC sales rise 3.78 percent
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) said yesterday its sales rose 3.78 percent last month to NT$10.43 billion (US$316 million) from NT$10.05 billion in July.
Last month's sales were up 10.8 percent year-on-year, the world's second largest contract microchip manufacturer said.
It said sales for the first eight months of the year amounted to NT$68.61 billion, down 0.21 percent from the year-earlier period, UMC said.
Sales for the second quarter totaled NT$25.10 billion, up from NT$23.03 billion in the preceding quarter but down from NT$25.75 billion a year earlier.
TAIFEX inks MOU abroad
The Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) on Thursday in Montreux, Switzerland, a TAIFEX official announced yesterday.
The memorandum, inked by TAIFEX chairman Yeh Ching-cheng (葉景成) and CBOE chairman William Brodsky, marked a further step in TAIFEX's strategic cooperation with its foreign counterparts and the nation's futures market internationalization.
Noting that CBOE is one of the world's largest options exchanges, Yeh said its successful experience in business expansion is worthy of being assimilated by TAIFEX in developing new products. He predicted that the memorandum would bring fruitful cooperation results for the two exchanges.
Central bank auctions CDs
The nation's central bank yesterday auctioned off NT$100 billion in certificates of deposit (CD) that drew a total bidding of NT$346.3 billion, the bank said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The auction ratio was 28.88 percent and the weighted average interest rate was 2.463 percent for the securities sold yesterday, the statement said.
Also yesterday, the central bank sold NT$50.1 billion 30-day CDs and negotiable CDs at a fixed rate of 1.92 percent, and offered NT$30 billion 91-day CDs and negotiable certificates of deposit at 1.99 percent, the bank said in another statement.
The central bank said a total of NT$231.8 billion in CDs had matured between Friday last week and yesterday, which it has replaced with NT$234.8 billion in new short-term debt in order to drain excess funds from the nation's money market.
Shares little changed
Shares closed little changed yesterday after early gains fueled by Wall Street's rise on optimism for an interest rate cut were offset by regional weakness, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 1.0 point or 0.01 percent at 9,018.08, on turnover of NT$135.18 billion (US$4.10 billion).
For the week to yesterday, the weighted index closed up 35.92 points or 0.4 percent following a 3.36 percent increase one week earlier.
The market largely ignored Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) warning that Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on UN membership had propelled the region into a "possibly dangerous period."
But sentiment in late trade was dampened by China's sluggish showing after the People's Bank of China said it would raise the commercial bank reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points.
On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar weakened NT$0.009 to close at NT$32.05 against its US counterpart.
Turnover was US$529 million, down from US$665 million the previous day, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
Rick Cassidy, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC, 台積電) US subsidiary, TSMC Arizona Corp, plans to retire, but the company has yet to name a successor. After Cassidy made his intention to retire known, TSMC Arizona held a special general meeting and approved a resolution that Cassidy would not continue as chairman and would not remain as a director, TSMC said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange last night. The meeting also approved a plan to appoint TSMC Arizona president Rose Castanares as a director, the company said, adding that Cassidy has been named as an advisor
SECURITY WARNING: The company possesses key 3-nanometer technology, and Taiwan should prevent it from being transferred to China, a lawmaker said The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would conduct a “strict review” of any proposed acquisition of Taiwanese tech company Source Photonics Co (索爾思光電), following media reports that a Chinese firm was planning to buy the company in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區). Local media reported that Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co (東山精密), China’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer, had announced plans to acquire Source Photonics for 5.9 billion yuan (US$823.1 million). The ministry said it has not received an application from Source Photonics and has formally notified the company that any buyout would constitute a change in its ownership structure. The
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