EQUITIES
Fears send TAIEX plunging
The TAIEX took a beating yesterday, tumbling almost 300 points, as market sentiment was roiled by fears of potential rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and over military tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The bellwether electronics sector came under heavy downward pressure, falling 1.61 percent, with the semiconductor subindex down 1.75 percent, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). The TAIEX closed down 287.92 points, or 1.60 percent, at 17,701.12. Turnover totaled NT$269.410 billion (US$9.72 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$47.35 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. TSMC lost 1.84 percent to close at NT$641, and its losses contributed about 100 points to the TAIEX’s decline.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Powerchip outlook upbeat
Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said it is optimistic about its operations this year. It expects annual revenue to increase 21.9 percent to more than NT$80 billion on the back of rising average selling prices, while net profit is forecast to grow 24.3 percent to more than NT$20 billion. Last year’s operating performance was in line with expectations, with revenue of NT$65.62 billion, gross margin of 42 percent and net profit of NT$16.09 billion, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told an online investors’ conference. That translated into earnings per share of NT$4.92, Huang said. At present, 70 to 80 percent of the company’s memory and logic production capacity has been booked by customers, he said. Product prices would not rise as much as last year, with average selling prices likely to increase by 5 to 10 percent, Huang said.
MANUFACTURING
Wah Lee buys 13 plots
Wah Lee Industrial Corp (華立), a supplier of industrial materials and equipment, yesterday said it has purchased several plots of land in Tainan, as it plans to set up a southern logistics center there. The company said in a regulatory filing that it has acquired 13 plots for about NT$1.2 billion. Wah Lee said its board of directors had authorized the firm’s chairman to handle price negotiations, payment terms and the signing of contracts for the purchase. As the company cannot register farming and grazing land under its name, it has temporarily registered the land under Wah Lee chief executive officer Gary Chang’s (張尊賢) name, it said, adding that it has taken all necessary precautionary measures to protect the rights of the company.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Hon Hai to redraw prizes
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that some of its employees were not able to join prize draws during an annual online event on Sunday due to a system malfunction. To protect the rights and interests of the affected employees, the company would redraw prizes for them, with the original prize winners remaining unchanged, Hon Hai said in a statement. Local media reported yesterday that some of Hon Hai’s employees were excluded from the prize draws, which included vehicles and cash, due to problems importing the lottery list into the company’s lottery system. Hon Hai said that it provided employees who did not win any prize draws with a participation award of NT$16,888 each.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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