Share prices dip 0.26%
Share prices fell 0.26 percent yesterday, dragged down by large-cap electronic stocks and the financial sector, with the benchmark index closing below 7,100 points.
The market opened up 13.11 points and quickly moved to the the day’s high of 7,125.67. However, the TAIEX fell to the day’s low of 7,078.06 before the end of the trading session.
The benchmark index closed down 18.15 points to end at 7,092.58.
Turnover totaled NT$65.02 billion (US$2.15 billion) during the session.
TWSE seeks to build confidence
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) will soon hold a meeting with senior executives from major local companies as part of its efforts to boost investor confidence in the local bourse.
The executives from a total of 12 companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), HTC Corp (宏達電) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), will provide -confidence--building suggestions at the meeting.
Lenders pushed to loan more
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday encouraged domestic lenders to increase loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) next year and promised rewards for cooperative banks.
The commission tentatively set the overall goal for SME loans at NT$220 billion next year, up from NT$200 billion this year, according to a statement on its Web site.
The move is the commission’s latest effort to maintain an easy credit environment as global economic uncertainty clouds the nation’s GDP growth outlook. It was also one of the measures announced by the Presidential Office’s economic task force last week to help small businesses access capital during the downturn.
The commission promised to speed up the review of business expansion applications at home and abroad for banks that accommodate the policy.
Yulon predicts good sales
In spite of the unfavorable business sentiment, automaker Yulon Group (裕隆集團) chairman Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰) said he expected Taiwan’s vehicle sales next year to retain this year’s momentum and hit about 370,000 units.
Yen made the remark on the sidelines of the 19th Taipei International Auto Show, saying that his optimism was based on the automaker’s sales of more than 500 cars just two days into the expo, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday.
He expected that Yulon would sell more than 300 units of its own-brand “Luxgen” vehicle during the nine-day show, the report said.
Yulon’s affiliate, China Motors Corp (中華汽車), recently succeeded in gaining orders from Japan’s Mitsubishi to produce “Lancer” vehicles in Taiwan and would export 1,000 Lancers to Kuwait in the first year.
New deputy governor named
Yen Tzung-ta (嚴宗大), head of the central bank’s economic research department, has been appointed as the bank’s deputy governor for a five-year term beginning on Feb. 15, according to a Presidential Office statement issued on Dec. 13.
Yen, who was also appointed a director on the bank’s board for a three-year term starting on the same date, is to replace Deputy Governor George Chou (周阿定), who will retire in February.
NT dollar dips against US
The New Taiwan dollar fell against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.012 to close at NT$30.308.
Turnover totaled US$422 million during the trading session.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.