Finance officials yesterday called on investors to remain calm, saying that the National Financial Stabilization Fund would intervene to shore up local shares when necessary.
The request came 45 minutes before the stock market opened, after Wall Street experienced its worst slump since 1987, as business interruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic escalate around the world.
“The stabilization fund can convene extraordinary meetings and unleash capital to support the local bourse when necessary,” Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) told a news conference after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 percent on Thursday.
The fund, with NT$500 billion (US$16.55 billion) capital ready to deploy, has activated six times to mitigate massive shocks from abroad and at home that threatened to throw the market into disarray, Su said.
Things have not yet grown out of control, the minister said, adding that COVID-19 infections in Taiwan are quite low and the TAIEX has been relatively resilient, thanks to proactive response measures and healthy economic fundamentals.
The stock market shed 10.82 percent in the past two weeks, milder than a 26.88 percent drop on the Dow, a 29.26 percent retreat in British shares and 32 percent corrections in German and French shares, Su said.
The US and Europe are struggling to tackle the virus’ spread, which appears to have plateaued in Asia, where the number of new infections has significantly declined in China, South Korea and Japan, he said.
Taiwan took quick measures to contain the virus and ease the adverse effects on companies and individuals, the minister said, citing the NT$60 billion relief program and incentives to facilitate capital repatriation and trade rerouting for companies based in China.
The ongoing market rout has made local shares cheaper and more attractive, in light of their generous dividends and low price-to-earnings ratios, lower than stocks in the region and globally, Su said.
Taiwanese exports logged a 25 percent increase last month, while South Korea, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan all slipped into contraction, the minister said.
The nation would continue to benefit from order transfers and supply chain realignment resulting from US-China trade tensions and more recently, a slow resumption of work in China owing to COVID-19, Su said.
That outbreak has also affected Taiwan’s economy, but the effects are expected to be temporary and limited to the first half of this year, economists have said.
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RSS