STOCK MARKET
Listed firms’ sales fall
Companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange saw their combined sales decrease 4.07 percent last month from a year earlier on a consolidated basis, driven mainly by results in the oil and gas, optoelectronics and container shipping industries. Listed companies had a combined NT$2.497 trillion (US$78.52 billion) in revenue last month, the exchange said in a statement yesterday. Among them, 362 businesses, including those in the steel, automotive and semiconductor industries, saw their combined revenue rise annually, while 468 firms reported declining sales, the exchange said. The aggregate sales of the 830 companies listed on the bourse totaled NT$22.72 trillion in the first 10 months of the year, down NT$374.8 billion, or 1.62 percent, from the same period last year, the exchange said. During the 10-month period, 379 companies reported that revenue increased from a year earlier, while 451 firms saw sales decline, it added.
MACHINERY
Minister touts ‘smart’ segment
Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) on Thursday gave an optimistic outlook for the nation’s “smart” machinery industry, saying that Taiwanese manufacturers would not be affected significantly by a possible rise in protectionism in the US when US president-elect Donald Trump takes office. Lee made the remark at a news conference ahead of the APEC ministers’ forum in Lima on Thursday and Friday next week. He said that several Taiwanese companies have successfully tapped into the US aviation supply chain, with demand for high-end precision equipment there likely to remain robust. Lee is to co-head the Taiwanese delegation to the annual APEC meeting with National Development Council Minister Chen Tain-jy (陳添枝).
HONG KONG
Growth slows in Q3
Economic growth slowed in the third quarter from the second as weak exports, sluggish retail sales and declining tourist arrivals took their toll on the territory. The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in the third quarter, compared with a downwardly revised 1.5 percent in the June quarter. The economy expanded 1.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, compared with 1.7 percent in the previous quarter. The government kept its full-year estimate for this year in the middle of its previous forecast range of between 1 and 2 percent. The government expects growth to remain on a modest track in the near term, due to a number of concerns, including the likely trend of increasing interest rates in the US and elevated geopolitical risks elsewhere.
ELECTRONICS
Acer monitor wins award
Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said that its Predator Z301CT gaming computer monitor has won a “Best of Innovation” award in the computer peripherals category at the CES 2017 Innovation Awards in Las Vegas. In addition, Acer’s Swift 7 notebook computer and its Spin 7 convertible notebook have been selected as CES 2017 Innovation Honorees in the computer hardware and components category. The CES Innovation Awards, sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association, has rewarded achievements in consumer electronics in 28 categories since 1976. The jury is comprised of independent industrial designers, engineers and reporters.
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
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