TAIEX closes down 0.4 percent
The TAIEX closed down 0.4 percent yesterday, dragged down by construction shares on fears the government would impose a new tax to curb speculation in the property market, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 35.01 points to 8,718.83, after moving between 8,684.05 and 8,744.67, on turnover of NT$143.34 billion (US$4.75 billion).
The market opened down 0.57 percent and moved to the day’s low as investors pocketed the gains posted in the previous session, dealers said.
However, after the index fell below the 8,700-point mark, bargain hunters emerged to help the market recoup some of its losses, they said.
A total of 2,848 stocks closed down, 1,438 finished up, and 308 remained unchanged.
Fubon seeking FSC approval
Fubon Financial Holding Co’s (富邦金控) life and property insurance units plan to apply to the Financial Supervisory Commission for approval to invest in China, the Taipei-based company said in statements to the stock exchange yesterday.
Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) plans to invest 320 million yuan (US$48.1 million) to form a life insurance venture with Nanjing Zijin Investment Holding Co (紫金控股), while Fubon Property and Casualty Insurance Co (富邦產險) plan to invest 80 million yuan in the venture, according to two separate exchange statements.
China Life acquires properties
China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽) bought properties in Taipei from Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corp (台灣化學纖維) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) for NT$405 million, the Taipei-based insurance company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Foxconn hiring in China
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, said its Chinese workforce now exceeds 1 million employees as the company continues to hire during the holiday season.
“We’re still hiring as we speak,” Louis Woo (胡國輝), special assistant to the CEO, said in a phone interview in Shenzhen yesterday.
Customer demand is spurring hiring, Woo said, who is responsible for supervising employee welfare at the maker of Apple Inc iPads and Hewlett-Packard Co computers.
Central bank sold 10-year bonds
The central bank on Thursday sold NT$40 billion of 10-year bonds at a yield of 1.471 percent.
The sale of the securities maturing in September 2020 attracted bids for 1.56 times the amount of debt on offer, the central bank said in a statement.
The central bank last sold the same bonds in September at a yield of 1.228 percent. That offer garnered a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.86 times.
Yuanta to hold forum
Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), which owns the nation’s largest securities brokerage, said yesterday it will host a forum on Monday aimed at bridging the knowledge gap on cross-strait financial rules, the company said in a statement yesterday.
The forum will take place in Taipei, where banking, insurance and securities officials from Beijing will share their views on capital market development and cooperation opportunities between the two sides, the statement said.
NT falls against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.03 to close at NT$30.585.
Turnover totaled US$712 million during the trading session.
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
Taiwanese manufacturers have a chance to play a key role in the humanoid robot supply chain, Tongtai Machine and Tool Co (東台精機) chairman Yen Jui-hsiung (嚴瑞雄) said yesterday. That is because Taiwanese companies are capable of making key parts needed for humanoid robots to move, such as harmonic drives and planetary gearboxes, Yen said. This ability to produce these key elements could help Taiwanese manufacturers “become part of the US supply chain,” he added. Yen made the remarks a day after Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) are jointly
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) expects its addressable market to grow by a low single-digit percentage this year, lower than the overall foundry industry’s 15 percent expansion and the global semiconductor industry’s 10 percent growth, the contract chipmaker said yesterday after reporting the worst profit in four-and-a-half years in the fourth quarter of last year. Growth would be fueled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, a moderate recovery in consumer electronics and an increase in semiconductor content, UMC said. “UMC’s goal is to outgrow our addressable market while maintaining our structural profitability,” UMC copresident Jason Wang (王石) told an online earnings
MARKET SHIFTS: Exports to the US soared more than 120 percent to almost one quarter, while ASEAN has steadily increased to 18.5 percent on rising tech sales The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week. The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020. In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said
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