TAIEX edges up
The TAIEX closed slightly higher yesterday after moving in a narrow range on reduced turnover, as sentiment was affected by lingering concerns over the global economy, dealers said.
Buying in financial and old economy stocks helped hold up the broader market, but large cap high-tech stocks came under pressure, triggered by disappointment over phone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co’s (大立光) cautious outlook for the fourth quarter, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 10.19 points, or 0.14 percent, at 7,254.51, after moving between 7,205.21 and 7,272.51, on turnover of NT$65.34 billion (US$2.16 billion).
CEPD plans forums on workers
The government plans to hold several large industry conferences starting next month to discuss possible relaxation of rules on the employment of foreign workers, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said yesterday.
“The conferences would help us integrate more opinions from different industries,” Liu said at a press briefing.
The council is also considering holding a series of debate competitions for college students before the end of the year to learn more about what young people thought about the issue, Liu said.
HTC mulls low-priced phones
HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker, may introduce smartphones priced below US$100 in line with its aim of increasing its global market share, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing company chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅).
Wang made the remarks during a discussion with Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg at the All Things Digital conference in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Wang also talked about some of the devices HTC is creating today, as well as the Taiwanese company’s partnership with Google Inc’s Android platform and her belief in the stylus.
Taipei Fubon office approved
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to set up a representative office in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, parent Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Food expo opens in Taichung
The Taiwan Culinary Exhibition opened yesterday in Greater Taichung, featuring gourmet food from Chinese cities and chef classrooms.
The fair, which is being held outside Taipei for the first time, runs at the Taichung World Trade Center, with chefs from five major cities serving dishes at the opening ceremony.
Many well-known restaurants and hotels are offering coupons for discounts of up to 51 percent.
Limited servings of dishes made from locally grown products will also be available during the exhibition, which runs through Monday.
The event draws more than 100,000 visitors each year, according to the Chinese Gourmet Association.
NT dollar retreats
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday lost ground against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.03 to close at NT$30.299, as the greenback extended its momentum against most of the currencies in Asia, dealers said.
The central bank was believed to have intervened in late trade to boost the value of the NT dollar in a bid to prevent volatile fluctuations of the currency amid the global financial turmoil, they said.
Turnover was US$899 million.
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
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
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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