EQUITIES
Foreigners still net buyers
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$7.02 billion (US$253.8 million) of local shares after they bought a net NT$26.46 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), while the top three sold were United Microelectronics Co (聯電), AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Innolux Corp (群創), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$22.83 trillion, or 44.21 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
EQUITIES
Trading will not cease
The Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday said that it would not cease trading even though the nation has faced an increasing number of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases. It is important to maintain properly functioning capital markets, the exchange said in a statement, adding that it has an all-encompassing “business continuity plan,” and has implemented work-from-home and off-site working as precautionary measures. In addition, there are also two backup trading systems in separate locations to safeguard uninterrupted operations, the exchange said. “With the cooperation of listed companies and market participants, the exchange firmly believes the capital markets can provide the reliable support the economy needs in this COVID period,” it said.
PLASTIC COMPONENTS
IKKA shares soar on debut
Shares of IKKA Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (第一化成控股), a maker of precision plastic injection-molded components, yesterday rose as much as 125 percent on its debut on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. British Cayman Islands-registered IKKA is the first Japanese company to have a primary listing in Taiwan. Its shares opened at NT$152, compared with an initial offering price of NT$76, and continued moving higher before closing at NT$159, up 109.21 percent. There is no restriction on daily price movements for newly listed shares. Auto parts account for 60.9 percent of IKKA’s sales, with Japanese firms such as Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co among its customers.
DISPLAY DRIVERS
FocalTech net profit surges
FocalTech Systems Co (敦泰電子), a supplier of drivers and touch display driver ICs used in flat panels, yesterday reported a net profit of NT$721 million for April, up 2,937 percent from a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$3.34. The company’s revenue grew 102 percent year-on-year to NT$1.91 billion, the most in the company’s history, on the back of rising prices and shipments, FocalTech said. Revenue in the first four months grew 62.43 percent to NT$6.26 billion, while net profit was NT$1.56 billion, or earnings per share of NT$7.58.
SHIPPING
Wan Hai orders new ships
Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) yesterday said that it has placed an order for four container vessels with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries Co for between NT$13.08 billion and NT$13.8 billion as the company plans to adjust its fleet to cope with its business needs. The four 13,100 twenty-foot-equivalent unit container ships are to be delivered from the second quarter of 2023, Wan Hai said. The price includes potential equipment upgrades on the vessels, it said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
LIMITED IMPACT: Investor confidence was likely sustained by its relatively small exposure to the Chinese market, as only less advanced chips are made in Nanjing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) saw its stock price close steady yesterday in a sign that the loss of the validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing, China, fab should have a mild impact on the world’s biggest contract chipmaker financially and technologically. Media reports about the waiver loss sent TSMC down 1.29 percent during the early trading session yesterday, but the stock soon regained strength and ended at NT$1,160, unchanged from Tuesday. Investors’ confidence in TSMC was likely built on its relatively small exposure to the Chinese market, as Chinese customers contributed about 9 percent to TSMC’s revenue last
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
UNCERTAINTY: A final ruling against the president’s tariffs would upend his trade deals and force the government to content with billions of dollars in refunds The legal fight over US President Donald Trump’s global tariffs is deepening after a federal appeals court ruled the levies were issued illegally under an emergency law, extending the chaos in global trade. A 7-4 decision by a panel of judges on Friday was a major setback for Trump, even as it gives both sides something to boast about. The majority upheld a May ruling by the Court of International Trade that the tariffs were illegal. However, the judges left the levies intact while the case proceeds, as Trump had requested, and suggested that any injunction could potentially be narrowed to apply
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