Shares drop 1.52 percent
The TAIEX closed down 115.77 points, or 1.52 percent, to 7,524.67 yesterday on turnover of NT$90.253 billion (US$2.8 billion).
The drop was triggered after the local bourse’s electronic heavyweights tracked downside on the tech-heavy NASDAQ, traders said yesterday.
Bank concentration low: Yeh
The nation’s bank concentration is relatively low in comparison with international standards, with the top five largest banks holding only a 37 percent market share, Yuanta Financial Holdings (元大金控) chairman Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) said yesterday.
Market shares for the top five major banks in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea were 55 percent, 73 percent, 76 percent and 89 percent respectively, which Yen said indicated that Taiwan’s bank concentration was significantly lower.
“Any financial institutions with international ambitions may not be capable of exploring the global market if they fail to fully develop in the domestic market,” the former minister of finance and former permanent representative to the WTO told a forum in Taipei.
In terms of market concentration, Yen said that the insurance sector remains the highest in the financial services market with the top five major life insurance firms holding a 68 percent market share.
The top five largest non-life insurance companies also hold more than 55 percent of the market, he said.
Asustek posts Q4 income
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) said in a stock exchange filing yesterday that its fourth-quarter net income was NT$5.66 billion (US$176.3 million).
In a separate filing with the stock exchange, Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) said it bought NT$500 million of China Airlines Ltd’s (華航) corporate bonds.
Uni-President opens new store
Uni-President Store Corp (統一超商) opened its 18th 7-Eleven outlet in Shanghai yesterday and said it planned have a total of 50 stores in China’s financial center by the end of the year.
The company won the license from parent company to operate 7-Eleven convenience stores in Shanghai in 2008 and set up its first store in the city last April.
It had established 13 stores by last December and added four more last month. Four of the stores are located in busy subway stations.
Uni-President Group (統一集團) CEO Jason Lin (林蒼生) vowed last year to open 165 7-Eleven outlets in Shanghai within three years and increase the number to 300 in five years’ time.
NT dollar slips
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday weakened by NT$0.111 to close at NT$32.101 against the greenback — the weakest level this year as slides in global stocks curbed demand for riskier assets amid a clampdown on currency speculation.
Turnover was US$825 million.
The NT dollar dropped the most since Jan. 20 as heightened concern about China’s policy adjustments and the risk of government debt defaults in Europe boosted demand for the greenback.
The central bank was reported last week to have tightened rules on currency forwards by requiring local banks to match such transactions with real exports.
“There’s some negative news and the fact is that the authorities do not want to see the currency appreciate too much,” said Juan Hao-yun, a foreign-exchange trader at King’s Town Bank (京城銀行).
“The long-term picture is still one where exporters will sell the US dollar as economic growth returns,” Juan said.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
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