A new market-making mechanism is to start on June 30 to improve the market liquidity of 140 stocks listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the Taipei Exchange, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
The TWSE has selected 60 stocks and the Taipei Exchange has chosen 80 to be included in the mechanism, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) told a videoconference, without identifying the stocks.
The chosen stocks had lower-than-average turnover last year, but are worth investing in, with earnings per share of more than NT$2 and dividends distributed, Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
Eight brokerages would serve as market makers to help boost the trading volume of the stocks, she added.
The market makers would have an obligation to give buy and sell quotations, and they could not place immediate-or-cancel or fill-or-kill orders, while their quotations should remain valid for at least half of the trading session, the exchanges said.
The market makers’ sell quotation could not be higher than their buy quotation for the same stocks by more than 3 percent, and once their quotations are accepted, they must conduct the transaction immediately, the exchanges’ rules showed.
For example, if a brokerage’s buy quotation for a stock is set at NT$100, its sell quotation could not surpass NT$103, TWSE trading division director Ben Chen (陳正斌) told the Taipei Times by telephone.
“We set the 3 percent limit as the market makers’ main mission is to boost the stocks’ trading volume, and it would not be realistic to expect investors to accept overly high selling prices for such stocks,” Chen said.
The 3 percent range should provide enough flexibility for brokerages to adjust their price setting and profit, Chen said.
The trading volume of any stock could not be less than 5,000 shares in a single transaction, and the valuation of each transaction could not be lower than NT$200,000, Chen said.
Market makers would not be required to give buy or sell quotations every day, but the number of the days they give quotations should be at least as high as 80 percent of the total days of that month, the rules showed.
The market-making mechanism is expected to direct retail investors’ attention to stocks that could be good choices, but are unpopular, Chen said.
“Investors are concerned about the liquidity problem of stocks. Even if a stock is a good target, investors would not consider it if the turnover is too low for fear of not being able to sell it in the future,” he said.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit today said in a written response that it respects the judicial process, takes the court ruling seriously and would not appeal in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets case. Last month, a court fined the Taiwan unit of Japan's Tokyo Electron NT$150 million (US$4.74 million) in a case involving trade secrets related to TSMC's sensitive chip technology.
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS