Resistance limits TAIEX gain
The TAIEX moved in a narrow range to end higher yesterday after a strong rebound the previous day, but faced technical resistance at around the 7,500-point level, dealers said.
The market pushed higher as many investors still held high hopes that EU leaders would hammer out a solution to the eurozone’s debt problems at a summit today, they said.
However, the gains were capped after the index briefly breached the 7,500 mark as many investors retreated from the trading floor, they added.
The TAIEX closed up 20.91 points, or 0.28 percent, at 7,491.21, after fluctuating between 7,468.53 and 7,506.08, on turnover of NT$97.17 billion (US$3.22 billion).
TransAsia seeks investors
TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) yesterday said it would raise NT$898 million from two strategic foreign investors, Paradigm Transportation Holdings BV and Maurice Savart.
Paradigm Transportation is a subsidiary of Paradigm Venture Partners LLC, which owns 97.5 percent of TransAsia’s shares, while Savart is the director of Ms Consult International Ltd and owns the other 2.5 percent, the company said in a statement.
“Paradigm Transportation’s consulting team and Director Savart are both with business experience of international airlines, which would help boost TransAsia’s operations and expansion on international routes,” the company said.
Kingdee opens Taiwan branch
Kingdee International Software Group Co (金蝶國際軟件集團), a Chinese enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution supplier, has opened a branch in Taiwan targeting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Kingdee said the branch began operation on Monday. It said it planned to work with IBM Corp, Acer Inc (宏碁) and Systex Corp (精誠資訊) on products.
It also hinted at the possibility of expanding by buying Taiwanese companies.
Banks ink Chinese bank deal
Two Taiwanese lenders yesterday signed agreements with China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行), China’s second-largest bank by assets, to expand their business cooperation.
Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) and First Commercial Bank Co said in separate statements that they signed pacts with the Chinese bank covering cross-strait lending, trade and other financing activity, as well as information exchange and staff training.
Capital adequacy ratio lowered
The Financial Supervisory Commission has lowered the minimum capital adequacy ratio for wealth management units of brokerages that manage trust investments from 250 percent to 200 percent, it said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
Commission officials also said the government may ease restrictions to allow a maximum US$1 billion investment by China’s qualified domestic institutional investors (QDII), the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported. Total value of investments by Chinese institutions is currently capped at US$500 million.
Bank SinoPac sells debt
Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), a subsidiary of SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) sold NT$3.2 billion seven-year subordinated debt at 1.85 percent to boost its capital adequacy ratio and help expand operations, SinoPac Financial said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on Tuesday, adding NT$0.008 to close at NT$30.125. Turnover totaled US$817 million.
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,
‘BASICALLY A BAN’: Sources said the wording governing H200 imports from officials was severe, but added that the regulations might change if the situation evolves Chinese customs authorities told customs agents this week that Nvidia Corp’s H200 artificial intelligence (AI) chips are not permitted to enter China, three people briefed on the matter said. Chinese government officials also summoned domestic technology companies to meetings on Tuesday, at which they were explicitly instructed not to purchase the chips unless necessary, two of the people and a third source said. “The wording from the officials is so severe that it is basically a ban for now, though this might change in the future should things evolve,” one of the people said. The H200, Nvidia’s second-most powerful AI chip, is one
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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