EQUITIES
TAIEX closes above 11,000
Local shares yesterday moved higher, closing above 11,000 points on the back of an overnight rally in US markets, as investors embraced expectations that businesses would reopen and the development of a COVID-19 vaccine by US-based Novavax Inc. However, the upturn was limited, with some investors shifting into sell mode after Washington reacted to security laws proposed by China to tighten control over Hong Kong, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 17.45 points, or 0.16 percent, at 11,014.66 on turnover of NT$156.24 billion (US$5.2 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$332 million of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. After breaking 11,000, the TAIEX might need to consolidate, analysts said.
CHIPMAKERS
Macronix approves dividend
Memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), which claims 23.8 percent of the world’s NOR flash memory market, yesterday said that shareholders at an annual general meeting approved a proposal to pay a cash dividend of NT$1.2 per common share. The distribution represents a 3.55 percent dividend yield based on the stock’s closing price of NT$33.85 yesterday in Taipei. Shareholders also approved NT$544.33 million in compensation for employees and NT$72.58 million for the board directors, as well as a proposal to raise funds by issuing up to 360 million common shares, the firm said.
CHIPMAKERS
Powerchip takes new head
Foundry and memorychip maker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said that it has tapped former AP Memory Technology Corp (愛普科技) president Gu Jun (顧峻) as the new copresident of its memory business group in a bid to enhance its research and development. Gu worked at Intel Corp and Cypress Semiconductor Corp before joining AP Memory in 2011. Chief technology officer Chang Shou-ren (張守仁) has also been promoted to vice president, it said, adding that the changes take effect on Monday next week.
ENERGY
Wpd’s deal to limit bird loss
Offshore wind energy developer Wpd Taiwan Energy Co Ltd (達德能源) yesterday signed a contract worth nearly NT$70 million with WeatherRisk Explore Inc (天氣風險) to monitor bird activity around Wpd’s planned 640 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Yunlin County and help minimize the project’s impact on bird migration. Surveillance equipment such as cameras and microphones would be installed on the transitional wind turbines, with radars to be preinstalled on the turbine components, Wpd said. The wind farm’s 80 8MW wind turbines are to be completed by the end of next year.
BUILDING SERVICES
FDC to help TCC (Hangzhou)
TCC (Hangzhou) Environmental Protection Technology Co Ltd (台泥環保科技), a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), yesterday signed a deal covering management services, marketing and trademark licensing with FDC International Hotels Corp (雲品國際). Under the agreement, FDC would assist TCC (Hangzhou) in planning technical assistance and services for the parent company’s new building in Hangzhou, China, Taiwan Cement said in a statement. TCC (Hangzhou) would also entrust FDC assisting in operating and managing the building, it added. FDC said that it would provide TCC (Hangzhou) with marketing services and license it to use its trademark. FDC is part of the TCC Group (台泥集團).
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
The US government on Wednesday sanctioned more than two dozen companies in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, including offshoots of a US chip firm, accusing the businesses of providing illicit support to Iran’s military or proxies. The US Department of Commerce included two subsidiaries of US-based chip distributor Arrow Electronics Inc (艾睿電子) on its so-called entity list published on the federal register for facilitating purchases by Iran’s proxies of US tech. Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said that the subsidiaries have been operating in full compliance with US export control regulations and his company is discussing with the US Bureau of
Businesses across the global semiconductor supply chain are bracing themselves for disruptions from an escalating trade war, after China imposed curbs on rare earth mineral exports and the US responded with additional tariffs and restrictions on software sales to the Asian nation. China’s restrictions, the most targeted move yet to limit supplies of rare earth materials, represent the first major attempt by Beijing to exercise long-arm jurisdiction over foreign companies to target the semiconductor industry, threatening to stall the chips powering the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. They prompted US President Donald Trump on Friday to announce that he would impose an additional
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, on Thursday reported a 12.3 percent year-on-year decline in revenue for last quarter to NT$257.86 billion (US$8.44 billion), but it expects revenue to improve in the second half on traditional holiday demand. The fourth quarter is usually the peak season for its communications products, a company official said on condition of anonymity. As Apple released its new iPhone 17 series early last month, sales in the communications segment rose sequentially last month, the official said. Shipments to Apple have been stable and in line with earlier expectations, they said. Pegatron shipped 2.4 million notebook
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