E-ton Solar to close Adema
E-ton Solar Tech Co (益通光能), one of the nation’s biggest solar cell makers, yesterday said it would shut down US subsidiary Adema Technologies Inc and would seek buyers to sell manufacturing equipment after its efforts to turn the company around failed.
Revenues from Adema accounted for 4.22 percent of E-ton’s overall revenues in the third quarter of this year, the Tainan-based company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Adema is now shifting its focus to helping other companies install solar panels or facilities, E-ton said.
Adema has signed a contract with IKEA Property Inc to install 2.7 megawatts of solar facilities, E-ton said last week.
Icash allows online shopping
Members of icash, the chip-based payment card issued by President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), which operates 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan, can now enjoy online shopping.
In addition to paying for MRT fares and making small transactions at food and beverage outlets in the nation, icash members can log onto 7net — 7-Eleven’s cyber store — to purchase more than 100,000 products, the convenience store chain operator said yesterday.
Wintek drops JPMorgan Chase
Wintek Corp (勝華), a Taiwanese maker of flat panels, said it ended its relationship with JPMorgan Chase & Co as a bookrunner for its global depositary receipts and might take legal action against the company after criticizing an analyst report from the bank’s brokerage unit.
“The analyst report said new players will grab market share, but this assumption couldn’t be accompanied by any evidence,” Jay Huang (黃忠傑), spokesman for Taichung-based Wintek, said in a telephone interview yesterday, referring to a report published yesterday by Taipei-based analyst Narci Chang. “In the past several offerings, we cooperated with JPMorgan. Without this event today I think we still would have cooperated with them to conduct the GDR offering,” Huang said.
Central bank issues CDs
The central bank issued NT$149 billion (US$4.8 billion) in certificates of deposit (CD) yesterday, less than the NT$171.25 billion that matured, the monetary authority said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The central bank sold 30-day certificates of deposit at an interest rate of 0.69 percent, 91-day at 0.73 percent, and 182-day CDs at 0.83 percent, according to its Web site.
NT dollar falls slightly
The New Taiwan dollar dropped against the US dollar yesterday, slipping NT$0.03 to close at NT$30.930.
Turnover totaled US$780 million during the trading session.
Dealers said investors throughout East Asia, in particular foreign banks, sustained their interest in US dollars seen in recent days.
The trend was highlighted by the weakness of the Chinese yuan to the greenback yesterday after Beijing’s surprise move on Tuesday to raise its key interest rates for the first time since 2007.
Dealers said that while the gains on the local bourse lent some support to the NT dollar, market sentiment remained cautious on fears that governments in the region would take action to prevent rapid appreciation of their currency against the US dollar.
Government to buy back bonds
The government plans to buy back bonds with a total face value of NT$40 billion in a tender on Nov. 4, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading
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