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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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