TAIEX hit by profit-taking
The TAIEX finished down on profit-taking yesterday for the fourth time in five trading sessions this week, closing at its lowest level since April 20.
The index fell 55.85 points, or 0.63 percent, to 8,837.03, after moving between 8,822.75 and 8,944.38 on turnover of NT$95.398 billion (US$3.32 billion).
It was the lowest close since the index hit 8,813.28 on April 20. For the week, the index was down 1.9 percent.
Shares in LED makers slump
Everlight Electronics Co (億光) and Epistar Corp (晶電), makers of LEDs, fell in Taipei trading yesterday on speculation that Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology Corp (台灣表面黏著科技), which procures LEDs to make its products, is forecasting that prices may fall in the third quarter, said Vincent Yu, an analyst at Jih Sun Securities Co (日盛證券).
Everlight shares slid 6.93 percent to NT$75.2, the lowest level since May 4, 2009, while Epistar shares lost 4.63 percent to NT$84.5, the lowest level since Sept. 9 last year.
Hsinchu firms to recruit
Forty-six companies with operations in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), mostly electronics firms, plan to recruit about 5,800 new workers at a job fair to be held by the park administration next Saturday ahead of the upcoming graduation season, the park administration said in a press release yesterday.
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), the world’s second-biggest contract chipmaker, and the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), will participate in the job fair and they plan to recruit more than 1,100 staff, the press release said.
Separately, AUO Crystal Corp (友達晶材) purchased a NT$699.5 million facility from Kedge Construction Co (根基營造) yesterday, AU Optronics said in a stock exchange statement.
Investors vote to accept deal
Hong Kong investors who faced significant losses from financial products tied to collapsed investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc have voted to accept a deal to get some of their money back.
PricewaterhouseCoopers receivers said investors voted in favor of the agreement during three days of meetings that ended yesterday.
Sixteen banks who sold the products said in March that they would buy back the so-called “mini-bonds” from investors for up to 96.5 percent of their value — an improvement on about a 60 percent repayment in a 2009 agreement.
“Mini-bonds” and other financial products were sold to more than 40,000 investors, including retirees who invested their life savings. The value of the products, estimated by the government at US$2.6 billion, plummeted after Lehman collapsed.
Offshore wind farms touted
The nation should look to renewable energy by exploiting offshore wind power technology, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday.
As the nation has not constructed any offshore wind farms, the government should accelerate the pace by coordinating with related industries, using Taiwan’s advantageous position as an island, the council said in a note.
The government should designate the appropriate areas for wind farms and perform environmental impact evaluations as a first step, it said.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against its US counterpart yesterday, adding NT$0.072 to close at NT$28.780.
Turnover totaled US$703 million during the trading session.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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