EQUITIES
TAIEX closes at new high
The TAIEX yesterday moved sharply upward to close at a new high, with buying focused on semiconductor shares amid optimism on the industry’s outlook. Market sentiment was also lifted by news that pharmaceutical companies Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE on Friday last week applied for emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration to supply their COVID-19 vaccine, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 161.57 points, or 1.18 percent, at 13,878.01 on turnover of NT$234.995 billion (US$8.16 billion). That topped the previous closing high of 13,773.29 on Wednesday last week. Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$10.88 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners change tack
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$49.93 billion of shares, after they sold a net NT$44.18 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. The top three shares purchased by foreign investors were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Macronix International Co Ltd (旺宏) and Yuanta Financial Holding Co Ltd (元大金控), while the top three sold were Innolux Corp (群創), E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) and China Petrochemical Development Corp (中石化), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had sold a net NT$558.11 billion of shares this year, while foreign investors accounted for 44.71 percent of market capitalization over the period, it said.
FABRIC MAKERS
Cathay shares to debut
Technical fabrics manufacturer Cathay Consolidated Inc (八貫企業) is to debut its shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange today, becoming the fifth domestic company to list on the main board this year, the exchange said yesterday. Cathay Consolidated produces thermoplastic polyurethane for the healthcare and aviation sectors. The company has set its initial public offering price at NT$55 per share. It reported earnings per share of NT$2.20, NT$2.80 and NT$3.08 from 2017 to last year respectively. In the first three quarters of this year, it posted earnings per share of NT$2.65, compared with NT$2.56 in the same period last year.
SECURITY SYSTEMS
AC&C to be suspended
Shares of AC&C International Co Ltd (鈞泰國際), a local supplier of security monitoring products and video surveillance systems, are to be suspended tomorrow, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. AC&C shares have been placed under an altered trading method since Nov. 21, 2018, due to changes in the company’s management and the scope of its business, the exchange said. If the company cannot achieve a marked improvement in its financial situation in the next six months, its shares would be delisted, the exchange said. AC&C reported a net loss of NT$27.75 million in the third quarter, with its cumulative total net loss rising to NT$52.88 million in the first three quarters of the year.
TRADE
Hong Kong eyeing RCEP
Hong Kong hopes to be part of the first new group of economies to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) after the agreement takes effect, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan (陳茂波) said in a blog post on Sunday. Total bilateral trade between Hong Kong and the 15 member states of RCEP accounts for 71 percent of Hong Kong’s total trade in goods, Chan wrote.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last