Large caps lead TAIEX rebound
The TAIEX rebounded 0.57 percent yesterday, backed by gains in large-cap stocks, but volume remained relatively thin, as investors continued to grapple with uncertainties weighing down the local bourse and Europe’s debt crisis.
The benchmark index ranged between a high of 7,220.10 and a low of 7,164.90 before closing up 41.04 points at 7,192.23 on turnover of NT$53.59 billion (US$1.81 billion).
A total of 1,816 stocks closed up, 1,886 finished down and 518 were unchanged.
Seven of the market’s eight major stock categories closed up, with financial shares posting the biggest gains at 0.9 percent. Electronics shares, automobile stocks and energy-saving concept stocks also outperformed the broader market throughout the trading session.
Ministry to help HTC
The Ministry of Economic Affairs “will definitely provide HTC (宏達電) with appropriate assistance,” a top Cabinet official told reporters on the sidelines of a legislative hearing yesterday.
However, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) declined to give details on how and what the ministry would do, saying that since the HTC-Apple legal dispute was ongoing, the government would maintain a low profile, instead of touting what measures can and will be taken.
HTC said on May 16 that its One X and EVO 4G LTE smartphones were barred entry to the US by customs officials following an exclusion order filed by the US International Trade Commission.
HTC said on Sunday that some of its smartphones had passed inspections and had been released to its carrier customers.
Evergreen to launch new route
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the nation’s largest container shipping firm in terms of fleet scale, yesterday announced it would launch a new route between south India and the Persian Gulf on June 5.
Two 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels will be deployed in the service, the company said in a statement.
The service will depart and arrive in the same city — India’s Cochin — followed by two stopovers in Sri Lanka’s Colombo and the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali.
Meanwhile, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), Taiwan’s second-largest container shipper, yesterday said it had inked a contract with Hung Hua Construction Co Ltd (宏華營造) for the construction plans of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) container terminal project at Kaohsiung Harbor, bid by its subsidiary Kao Ming Container Terminal Corp (高明貨櫃碼頭).
The contract is worth NT$2.2 billion to NT$2.5 billion, Yang Ming said.
Sany gets loan commitments
Sany Group Co (三一集團), owner of China’s biggest machinery maker, received commitments from 10 banks for its US$200 million-equivalent three-year loan, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀) and Tai Fung Bank Ltd (大豐銀行) committed US$17 million each, while Cathay United Bank Co (國泰世華銀行) pledged US$15 million and Nanyang Commercial Bank Ltd (南洋商業銀行) provided HK$132.6 million (US$17 million), the person said, asking not to be identified.
HSBC Holdings PLC, the loan’s arranger and bookrunner, committed US$25 million, the person said.
Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), Hang Seng Bank (恒生銀行), Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (上海浦東發展銀行) and Taiwan Business Bank (臺灣中小企業銀行) pledged US$23 million, the person said.
NT dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar gained value on the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.052 to close at NT$29.578, on turnover of US$684 million.
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Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘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
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