Waterland Financial drops bid
Waterland Financial Holdings Co (國票金控) said it had dropped a bid for MetLife Inc’s Taiwan business, according to a statement to the stock exchange yesterday. The Financial Supervisory Commission last month rejected the Taipei-based company’s plan to acquire the US life insurer’s local business.
CPC Corp to cut gas prices
State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) will cut domestic natural gas prices by 2.98 percent for this month from tomorrow, the company said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The company will keep liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices unchanged after the damage caused by Typhoon Megi last month, CPC said. LPG, a by-product of crude oil, gas production and oil refining is used for cooking, heating and as motor fuel.
NT dollar hits high
The New Taiwan dollar rose to a two-year high before surrendering most of the gain on suspected intervention by the central bank yesterday.
The monetary authority bought US dollars in late trading, according to two traders who declined to be identified. The currency earlier strengthened as much as 1.1 percent to its highest level since July 2008 after China’s logistics federation said yesterday that the purchasing managers’ index rose to 54.7 last month from 53.8 in September. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
“Better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing shows there’s demand for Taiwan’s goods as well,” said Wai Ho Leong, a Singapore-based senior regional economist at Barclays Capital Plc.
The NT dollar will lag behind other Asian currencies as “the central bank will smooth the moves,” Leong said.
Central bank issues CDs
The central bank issued NT$309.1 billion (US$10.2 billion) in certificates of deposit (CDs) yesterday, more than the NT$301.7 billion that matured, the bank said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The bank sold 30-day CDs at an interest rate of 0.63 percent 91-day at 0.67 percent, and 182-day at 0.77 percent, according to the bank’s statement.
TSMC buys equipment
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest custom manufacturer of chips, bought NT$1.38 billion of equipment from Tokyo Electron Ltd and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co.
TSMC purchased NT$860 million of equipment from Tokyo Electron and NT$516 million of gear from Dainippon Screen, the Hsinchu-based company said in two separate statements to the Taipei Stock Exchange yesterday.
Taipei to host ABA meeting
Taipei is set to host the Asian Bankers Association’s (ABA) annual meeting of members representing the regional banking and finance industry today.
Susan Chang (張秀蓮), chairwoman of both the ABA and the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), will introduce the achievements of Taiwan’s financial liberalization at the 27th ABA General Meeting.
According to the ABA secretariat, the general meeting provides a platform for exchanges between banks within the region, giving them an opportunity to increase cooperation in a friendly setting, and has thus helped Taiwan’s banking sector to expand into Asia.
The secretariat said the ABA, founded in Taipei in 1981, is the largest non-governmental banking organization in Asia, with membership currently including more than 100 banks from 27 regional economies.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
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