TAIEX rallies on US optimism
The TAIEX staged a rally yesterday, with many investors expecting the US Federal Reserve to come up with further liquidity easing measures to boost the economy, dealers said.
The gains also reflected optimism that the constitutional court in Germany was set to rule on whether the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund is constitutional later in the day.
The weighted index closed up 85.32 points, or 1.14 percent, at 7,570.45, after moving between 7,515.04 and 7,571.42, on turnover of NT$103.27 billion (US$3.49 billion), the highest level since Aug. 9.
‘Green goods’ get tax break
Items categorized as environmental goods and services (EGS), due to enjoy tariff cuts as the result of an agreement among APEC members, account for 10 percent of Taiwan’s total exports, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday.
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said this year’s APEC economic ministers’ meeting had produced an agreement to reduce the applied tariff rates on 54 EGS items to less than 5 percent by the end of 2015.
The 54 items include products and services related to reducing water or air pollution, waste management and renewable energy.
TAITRA aims exports at Iraq
Taiwan has set its sights on Iraq in its bid to promote exports to that country, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會).
The Iraqi government has been very active in opening its market to foreign countries after the US completed its troop withdrawal in December last year, the TAITRA said in a statement on Tuesday.
TAITRA said there is massive demand for power supply equipment, infrastructure and machinery, as well as notebook computers and smartphones in Iraq. In addition, TAITRA foresees great potential in the Iraqi car market because the country lacks public transportation.
FSC to relax investment rules
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Tuesday announced plans to allow domestic securities investment trust companies greater flexibility so that they may better utilize their funds for domestic investment, according to a commission statement.
Under the current regulations, domestic securities investment trust companies can only invest up to 30 percent of their net worth on trust funds. The commission said it would soon raise the ceiling to 40 percent.
Separately, the commission on Tuesday approved SinoPac Securities Co’s (永豐金證券) plan to acquire Pacific Securities Co (太平洋證券), which will add 10 offices to the total number of outlets of SinoPac Securities to 59.
Breeze Center to expand
In view of a steady growth in its dining and restaurant operations, the Breeze Center (微風廣場) has announced plans to open the first Taiwan location for the Japanese discount store “Don Quixote” and expand its dining operations at the Taipei Railway Station, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday.
The department store operator posted consolidated revenue of NT$7.5 billion in the first eight months of this year, up 8 percent from the same period of last year, the paper said, citing company data. Breeze Center has aimed to increase its consolidated sales by 9 percent to NT$11 billion for this year, the paper added.
NT dollar up vs greenback
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.046 to close at NT$29.669.
Turnover totaled US$816 million during the trading session.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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