EQUITIES
Investors lock in gains
The TAIEX yesterday closed lower in a volatile session, as investors shifted to the sell side to lock in earlier gains amid concerns over the attitude of foreign institutional investors who have increased short-term futures contracts in recent sessions, dealers said. Market sentiment has also been affected by an increase in domestic COVID-19 cases related to a hospital in Taoyuan, with many investors fearing that an escalation of the disease would hamper economic activity, they said. However, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remained resilient, preventing the broader market from falling further, they added. The TAIEX ended down 71.19 points, or 0.45 percent, at 15,806.18, on turnover of NT$414.877 billion (US$14.601 billion). Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$21.55 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. TSMC shares finished up 3.19 percent to close at a historic high of NT$647.00.
INVESTMENT
TWSE cohosts conference
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and MasterLink Securities Co (元富證券) yesterday held an investment conference in Taipei that featured in-person and online meetings in the same event, and held 25 one-on-one meetings between local listed firms and institutional investors in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia, the exchange said in a statement. The forum, titled “Great Reset — New Industry Landscape after COVID-19,” received positive participant feedback, it said. The keynote address focused on corporate governance developments among local listed companies, it said. “The new format integrating physical and online meetings successfully increased interaction between listed companies and investors,” the exchange said. “The TWSE will continue to organize events for investors that introduce strongly performing listed companies to fuel local economic growth.”
BANKING
First Web-only bank opens
Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀) on Tuesday opened for business, becoming Taiwan’s first Web-only bank. Backed by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc, the bank is one of three that have received digital banking licenses from the Financial Supervisory Commission. The bank features the Happy Program, a customer loyalty program that earns rewards from transactions, and the Rakuten Ecosystem, a virtual marketplace of products and services that make life easier for its members. Also introduced are New Taiwan dollar-denominated time deposits with maturities as short as seven days.
SEMICONDUCTORS
MediaTek ranked No. 8
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) last year took the eighth spot in the global semiconductor brand rankings, up five places from 2019, after sales increased 38.3 percent annually to US$11.01 billion, Gartner Inc said in a report on Thursday last week. MediaTek and US-based Qualcomm Inc last year benefited from record sales of 5G applications, the report said. Qualcomm last year posted US$17.91 billion in revenue, up 31.5 percent, to become the fifth-largest semiconductor brand, while Intel Corp remained No. 1 after it posted US$70.24 billion in sales, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier, it said. Samsung Electronics Co remained No. 2, after generating US$56.20 billion in sales, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier, ahead of DRAM makers SK Hynix Inc (US$25.27 billion, up 13.3 percent) and Micron Technology Inc (US$22.10 billion, up 9.1 percent), Gartner said.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
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