TAIEX inches down
The TAIEX closed down 1.02 percent yesterday, led by high-tech and financial stocks, after Wall Street weakness overnight amid lingering concerns over the global economic climate, dealers said.
The index, the market’s key barometer, fell 81.71 points to 7,895.03 after moving between 7,869.52 and 7,956.90 on turnover of NT$125.49 billion (US$3.95 billion).
The market opened down 0.67 percent and selling accelerated as investors witnessed other regional markets, such as Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, suffer heavy losses, the dealers said.
A total of 2,677 stocks closed down and 1,003 were up with 223 remaining unchanged.
Airtac files TWSE application
Airtac International Group (亞德客國際集團), a Chinese automation control equipment maker, has filed an application with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) for primary listing, the exchange said on Tuesday.
Airtac has become the fourth foreign company to seek a stock offering on Taiwan’s main board so far this year, the TWSE said.
Airtac, a Cayman Islands-registered firm capitalized at NT$1.33 billion, is planning to issue 17 million new shares for the listing at NT$80 per share and expects to raise NT$1.36 billion by the end of the fourth quarter.
The company posted NT$550 million in net profits last year, up 32 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share at NT$7.1.
CPC chair post filled
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has finally decided to fill the vacancy of the chairmanship at state-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油), a position that had been vacated by Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) 11 months ago.
The ministry said in a statement yesterday that CPC president Chu Shao-hua (朱少華) had been promoted chairman. Chu served as CPC’s acting chairman in October last year, after Shih was appointed to lead the ministry the previous month during a partial Cabinet reshuffle.
At the same time, CPC vice president Lin Maw-wen (林茂文) would take over Chu’s position, the ministry said in the statement.
Chu has been working with CPC for almost 40 years with an expertise in petroleum refining engineering, while Lin has been involved mostly in the business planning and marketing areas since he joined the refiner in 1974.
In the first six months of this year, CPC posted a pre-tax profit of NT$10.54 billion, according to statistics released by the State-Owned Enterprise Commission last month.
Far Eastern sells bonds
Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀) — which changed its name from Far Eastern Textile Co (遠東紡織) on Oct. 13 last year — sold NT$6 billion in five-year bonds at an interest rate of 1.59 percent, the Taipei-based company said in a filing to the TWSE yesterday.
The proceeds will be used to repay short-term debt and strengthen finances, the company said.
Meanwhile, the central bank issued NT$225 billion in certificates of deposit, less than the NT$235.2 billion that matured, it said in a statement on its Web site.
NT dollar slides
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday after the central bank intervened at the last minute of trading to counter appreciation that may hurt exports, traders said.
The NT dollar, which was trading 0.1 percent stronger two minutes before the 4pm close, declined 0.1 percent to end at NT$31.88 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$727 million during the trading session.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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