Bonds fall, NT dollar rises
Taiwanese 10-year government bonds fell for a third day after the government said it would increase debt sales. The currency rose for a fourth day.
The Ministry of Finance will issue NT$130 billion (US$3.9 billion) in bonds in the fourth quarter, it said in statement last Friday. The government sold NT$105 billion of debt during the fourth quarter last year.
The yield on the benchmark bond due September 2017 rose 11.2 basis points to 2.602 percent on the GRETAI Securities Market. Its price fell NT$0.9666 to NT$98.0230.
The New Taiwan dollar rose for the fourth day, closing NT$0.026 higher at NT$32.927 against the US currency, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$1.089 billion.
Chang Hwa to raise rates
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) announced yesterday that it would raise interest rates, effective today, after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rates last week and the Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) increased its interest rates on both time deposits and time savings deposits yesterday.
Chang Hwa will increase its interest rate on time deposits by a range between 0.06 and 0.08 percentage points, and on time savings deposits by a range between 0.07 and 0.08 percentage points, it said in a statement posted on its Web site.
TSMC ordered to pay damages
The world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday that a California court had ordered it to pay US-based UniRAM Technology Inc US$30.5 million over its misuse of trade secrets.
The world's largest contract chipmaker, in response, claimed the court ruling was "in error."
"TSMC has always held itself to the highest standards of respect for intellectual property and believes that this verdict is in error," Dick Thurston, TSMC's vice-president and general counsel, said in a statement. "We intend to pursue all defenses vigorously."
UniRAM alleged in its lawsuit that TSMC had misappropriated its trade secrets regarding the design of specialized computer memory devices known as "embedded DRAM," a statement from the law firm that represented the US firm said.
Taipower auctions debt
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), the nation's biggest electricity producer, auctioned NT$10.69 billion in five-year secured bonds to help fund the construction of power plants and upgrade its grids.
The debt, guaranteed by Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行), will pay annual interest of 2.7 percent, said Sam Lou, a section chief at the company's finance department. That compares with the 2.521 percent yield on the benchmark five-year government bond yesterday.
"This is an interest rate we can accept," Lou said by telephone from the Taipei-based company's headquarters yesterday.
The auction brings Taipower's total debt sales this year to NT$25.69 billion.
Chinese mortgages to cost more
China's central bank is expected to increase its mortgage interest rate to 110 percent of its benchmark one-year lending rate this week to curb the property market, state media reported yesterday.
If the rise goes ahead, the interest rate for a five-year mortgage could be as high as 8.613 percent, the China Daily reported, quoting unnamed sources.
The current five-year lending rate reached 7.83 percent after the People's Bank of China raised interest rates for the fifth time this year on Sept. 13.
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is expected to miss the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday, bucking a trend among high-profile US technology leaders. Huang is visiting East Asia this week, as he typically does around the time of the Lunar New Year, a person familiar with the situation said. He has never previously attended a US presidential inauguration, said the person, who asked not to be identified, because the plans have not been announced. That makes Nvidia an exception among the most valuable technology companies, most of which are sending cofounders or CEOs to the event. That includes
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
RSS