BONDS
French ‘green bonds’ debut
The first tranche of US$120 million in “green bonds” issued by France-based Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank was yesterday listed on the over-the-counter market, adding to the global visibility of Taiwan’s bond market, the Taipei Exchange said. The bonds, which fund environmentally friendly projects, have a maturity of five years with a coupon rate of 2.64 percent. The French lender said it is upbeat about renewable energy development in Taiwan and plans to issue additional green bonds to participate in the government’s “green” energy efforts. It added that it hopes to work with Taiwanese bond underwriters to push for more listings of green bonds issued by other foreign companies on the market.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
NT dollar rises to NT$30.490
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rose against the US dollar, gaining NT$0.103 to close at NT$30.490 as the greenback was hit by concerns about investigations into ties between US President Donald Trump’s administration and Russia, dealers said. Selling in the US dollar on the local foreign exchange market also reflected the strength of other regional currencies, while continued foreign institutional buying on the local equity market added downward pressure on the greenback, the dealers added. Foreign institutional investors yesterday bought a net NT$3.04 billion of shares on the main board, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Taiwan to fall behind: SEMI
Taiwan will likely fall behind South Korea and China to become the world’s third-largest semiconductor equipment market next year as its rivals build up their IC sectors, a report released yesterday by global industrial association SEMI showed. The trade group forecast that South Korea is likely to replace Taiwan as the world’s largest IC equipment market this year on nearly 70 percent growth in equipment purchases. China is then expected to unseat Taiwan as the second-largest IC equipment market next year, the report said. Last year, IC equipment sales in Taiwan totaled US$12.23 billion, making it the world’s largest semiconductor equipment market for the fifth consecutive year, ahead of South Korea at US$7.69 billion and China on US$6.46 billion, the report said. However, Taiwan’s IC equipment purchases are expected to grow only 4.09 percent annually to US$12.73 billion, while South Korea’s purchases are expected to soar 68.7 percent year-on-year to US$12.97 billion.
STOCK MARKETS
TAIEX cautiously edges up
Local shares yesterday closed slightly higher as sentiment turned cautious ahead of investor conferences scheduled for today for two tech heavyweights, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光), dealers said. Largan yesterday continued trending up, rising 2.74 percent to close at a record high of NT$5,430, lending support to the electronics sector, as well as the broader market, the dealers said. The stock soared 3.83 percent a day earlier. The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up 5.11 points, or 0.05 percent, at 10,420.68, after moving between 10,393.54 and 10,450.87 on turnover of NT$109.71 billion.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
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