TAIEX down on electronics
The TAIEX closed down yesterday, with the market’s weighted index plunging below the five-day moving average of 7,776 on losses among large-cap electronics stocks.
The weighted benchmark TAIEX closed down 50.90 points, or 0.65 percent, at 7,755.09. Turnover was NT$87.44 billion (US$3.01 billion).
A total of 1,958 stocks closed up, 2,981 finished down, and 388 remained unchanged.
Despite the weak momentum for the day’s session, four of the market’s eight major categories ended in positive territory Textile stocks, paper and pulp shares, construction and the financial sector.
TPK sees record-high profits
Touch-panel manufacturer TPK Holdings Co (宸鴻) reported record-high revenue for the last quarter yesterday due to growing demand from tablet and smartphone customers,
The company said that its fourth-quarter revenue reached NT$61.48 million, up 72.6 percent from the third quarter and 35.2 percent higher than a year earlier.
Last month’s revenue was NT$22.38 billion, up 26 percent year-on-year and down 3.7 percent month-on-month, TPK said. Revenue totaled NT$173.66 billion this year, an increase of 21.1 percent from 2011, it said.
Per capita national debt falls
National debt declined to NT$224,000 per person as of the end of last year, up NT$7,000 per person from the end of November last year, as routine spending at the end of every year raises the debt amount, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
National debt, which includes the central government’s long-term and short-term debt, amounted to NT$5.225 trillion as of the end of last year, up NT$165 billion from a month earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
Government bonds — the central government’s outstanding debt with a maturity of more than a year — totaled NT$4.95 trillion, while treasury bills — the central government’s outstanding debt with a maturity of less than a year — stood at NT$275 billion, data showed.
The ministry also announced that local government debt information will be released on Wednesday next week.
McDonald’s staff in exchange
More than 2,000 Chinese employees of McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant chain, arrived in Taiwan yesterday as part of the company’s exchange program for on-the-job training, according to officials at the National Immigration Agency.
The agency said it received an application from Taiwan’s McDonald’s for the visit by its Chinese employees in November last year. It added that it had made preparations to handle the large number of Chinese visitors and would monitor the group’s schedule in Taiwan closely.
Mercedes claims top sales
Mercedes-Benz Taiwan Ltd claimed it had maintained its position as the top foreign premium car brand in Taiwan last year, a title the company has held for four years in a row, the company said in a statement.
The company did not disclose how many premium cars it sold last year in Taiwan. Overall, Mercedes-Benz sold 13,392 vehicles in the country, the statement said.
Based on the latest industry tallies released last week that showed a total of 365,871 cars were sold in Taiwan last year, Mercedes-Benz enjoyed a market share of 3.66 percent.
NT same against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar closed unchanged at NT$29.125 against the US dollar yesterday.
Turnover totaled US$530 million during the trading session.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
RSS