TAIEX up on foreign inflows
The TAIEX moved higher yesterday as foreign institutional investors kept moving funds into the local bourse, with ample liquidity pushing the index past the 7,900 mark, dealers said.
Interest focused on “China concept stocks” that have close business ties with China, such as auto and textile manufacturers, while the flat panel sector came under pressure after AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) reported worse-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of last year, they said.
The index closed up 40.87 points, or 0.52 percent, at the day’s high of 7,910.78, off an early low of 7,840.78, on turnover of NT$169.37 billion (US$5.74 billion). AUO closed down 3.55 percent at NT$16.30, while rival Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) ended down 3.76 percent at NT$16.65.
Nod for bank’s China branch
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday approved plans by Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) to set up two new outlets in China to lift its presence there.
The state-run lender plans to open its second branch in Tianjin and a further outlet in Suzhou, where its first Chinese branch is located, the FSC said.
Under Chinese rules Taiwanese banks can have only one branch in any individual province, but they may apply to have more outlets. Domestic lenders have pressed the FSC for its help in persuading China to remove the one-branch cap.
HSBC fined over staff fraud
HSBC Taiwan is facing a penalty of NT$2 million for negligence of internal control after one of the lender’s employees bilked eight customers of NT$770,000, the FSC said yesterday.
The fraud resulted from the staffer making cash withdrawals on inactive accounts, the FSC said, adding that the staffer had since been fired.
Hua Nan’s income jumps
Hua Nan Financial Holding Co (華南金控) yesterday posted NT$892 million in net income last month, jumping 42.62 percent from one month earlier and 21.86 percent from a year earlier, according to its stock filing.
The figures translated into NT$0.11 earnings per share.
The state-run financial service provider attributed the gains to improving business at its banking, securities and non-life insurance units.
Most apps in life are free
Just over 7 percent of polled office workers said they regularly paid to download apps onto their tablet PCs or smart phones, according to the results of an online survey released yesterday.
The survey, conducted by 1111 job bank, said only 7.05 percent of workers often paid for apps, with 60.98 percent saying they only use free apps and 31.97 percent admitting to sometimes paying for their downloads.
Among the workers who were willing to pay for software, 46.6 percent bought gaming or entertainment apps, while 21.35 percent of the polled workers paid for apps related to transport and weather, the survey said.
NT rises against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US currency yesterday, adding NT$0.035 to close at NT$29.495, due to continuing fund inflows, as foreign institutional investors continued to bet on further gains in the local bourse, dealers said.
The NT dollar bucked the declines suffered by most Asian currencies amid cautious sentiment over the debt situation in the eurozone ahead of a European leaders’ meeting, they said. Turnover totaled US$866 million during yesterday’s trading session.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
RSS