EQUITIES
TAIEX gives up gains
The TAIEX yesterday gave up all of its earlier gains to close slightly lower as investors rushed to lock in profits, but select large-cap tech stocks fended off the profit-taking, which largely affected old economy and financial stocks, dealers said. The benchmark index closed down 16.90 points, or 0.11 percent, at 14,983.13, on turnover of NT$434.213 billion (US$15.29 billion). The TAIEX had risen 1.82 percent in the first two trading sessions of this year. Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$48 million of shares on the main board yesterday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
LIGHTING
Ennostar soars on debut
Ennostar Inc (富采投控) shares yesterday rose by the daily maximum 10 percent to NT$91 after the company made its debut on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Ennostar, a holding company formed by the merger of LED firms Epistar Corp (晶電) and Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達), started trading at an initial public offering price of NT$82.8. The first-day surge raised the company’s market value to NT$62.43 billion, stock exchange data showed.
COMPUTERS
Getac revenue up 23.45%
Rugged PC vendor Getac Technology Corp (神基) yesterday reported that consolidated revenue last month grew 23.45 percent year-on-year to NT$2.63 billion. That helped increase its fourth-quarter sales to NT$7.75 billion, up 9.32 percent from the third quarter and 10.24 percent from a year earlier, company data showed. Getac also produces auto mechanical parts and aero fastener components. Revenue for last year as a whole totaled NT$27.84 billion, up 3.28 percent from NT$26.95 billion in 2019 and hitting a record high, the company said in a release.
SMARTPHONES
HTC revenue down 42%
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported that revenue last year dropped 42.03 percent from a year earlier to NT$5.81 billion. The smartphone vendor said in a news release that revenue last month grew 10.8 percent monthly and 1.02 percent annually to NT$615 million. Annual revenue at HTC has fallen every year since 2011, and last year’s figure was the lowest since the company’s initial public offering on March 26, 2002.
HOUSING BROKERS
Hiyes revenue hits record
Hiyes International Co (海悅國際開發), the nation’s largest housing broker, yesterday reported that revenue last month grew 59.28 percent year-on-year to NT$536 million, a monthly record for the company. The firm attributed the growth to launches of new housing projects by developers in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. For the whole of last year, cumulative revenue surged 119.21 percent from a year earlier to NT$3.66 billion, the company said in a statement.
RETAILERS
Don Quijote entering Taiwan
Japanese discount chain Don Quijote is to open its first store in Taiwan on Jan. 19 in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area, the company said on Tuesday. The new store, Don Don Donki, would occupy three stories of a building at No. 123 Xining S Street, near MRT Ximen Station Exit 6. It would carry a wide selection of imported Japanese products, as well as cosmetics, snacks, beverages, fresh produce, made-to-order meals and sushi, the company said.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
LIMITED MEASURES: The proposed restrictions on Chinese chip exports are weaker than previously considered, following lobbying by major US firms, sources said US President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing additional curbs on sales of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips to China that would escalate the US crackdown on Beijing’s tech ambitions, but stop short of some stricter measures previously considered, said sources familiar with the matter. The restrictions could be unveiled as soon as next week, said the sources, who emphasized that the timing and contours of the rules have changed several times, and that nothing is final until they are published. The measures follow months of deliberations by US officials, negotiations with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) yesterday said it expects any impact of new tariffs from US president-elect Donald Trump to hit the company less than its rivals, citing its global manufacturing footprint. Young Liu (劉揚偉), chairman of the contract manufacturer and key Apple Inc supplier, told reporters after a forum in Taipei that it saw the primary impact of any fresh tariffs falling on its clients because its business model is based on contract manufacturing. “Clients may decide to shift production locations, but looking at Foxconn’s global footprint, we are ahead. As a result, the impact on us is likely smaller compared to
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
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