TAIEX falls 0.44 percent
Taiwanese shares closed 0.44 percent lower yesterday amid cautious sentiment before local elections today, dealers said.
The TAIEX index fell 33.76 points to 7,650.91 on turnover of NT$113.87 billion (US$3.54 billion).
Losers led gainers by 1,661 to 840 with 257 stocks unchanged.
The market opened little changed and drifted without direction amid uncertainty over the upcoming election, before selling pressure emerged in late trade to drag down the index with financial stocks in focus, dealers said.
“Before elections, investors tend to take profits to avoid any possible impact from politics,” President Securities (統一證券) analyst Steven Huang said. “I expect the market will continue to trade in a narrow range in the following sessions.”
Foreign reserves hit new high
Taiwanese foreign exchange reserves hit a record high of US$347.19 billion at the end of last month, the central bank said yesterday.
Last month’s figure was an increase of US$5.97 billion from the end of October, the central bank said.
The increase was mainly because of a rise in the value of euro and yen in the bank’s portfolio against the greenback, said the bank, adding that returns on investments also contributed to the rise.
Government fights joblessness
Taiwan aims to create 99,000 jobs next year to bring down unemployment numbers lingering near record highs as a result of the global financial crisis, the government said yesterday.
The country will focus on industries such as tourism and healthcare in its efforts to help those unable to find work, an official at the Government Information Office told reporters.
“Endeavors to improve the domestic job market are at the top of the Cabinet’s agenda,” the official said.
Figures from the Council of Labour Affairs show 73,000 jobs have been created this year.
The unemployment rate hit an all-time high of 6.13 percent in August. It had fallen to 5.96 percent as of October.
Solar panel plans unveiled
Taiwan is hoping to fit solar panels on 100,000 roofs as a new pricing structure for renewable energy helps ensure profits for builders, a government official said yesterday.
The government will announce this month wholesale prices of electricity generated from renewable sources that will ensure profits for producers, Wang Yunn-ming (王運銘), deputy director-general of the Bureau of Energy, said by telephone.
“We hope the growth in solar energy will speed up, now [that there are] incentives,” Wang said.
The government aims to install 1,000 megawatts in solar-power capacity by 2025, compared with 5 megawatts currently, Wang said.
More than 400 buildings in the country have installed solar panels, Wang said.
The government pays as much as half of the cost of installation, he said.
NT dollar falls ahead of polls
The New Taiwan dollar fell, paring the week’s gain, before local elections today.
The NT dollar also dropped along with most other Asian currencies on concern that US jobs data to be released today may show employers cut more workers than some economists have anticipated.
The NT dollar declined NT$0.02 to NT$32.17 versus the US currency as of 4pm, Taipei Forex Inc said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
RSS