EQUITIES
Investors bank on US rally
The TAIEX moved sharply higher to close above 18,100 points yesterday, as upward momentum on the main board continued from the previous session after an overnight rally on US markets. Buying rotated to the bellwether electronics sector as investors took their cues from a robust showing by tech stocks in the US, while select old economy stocks continued to post gains on the back of growing raw material prices worldwide. The TAIEX closed up 185.20 points, or 1.03 percent, at 18,151.76, after moving between 18,039.23 and 18,168.60. Turnover totaled NT$294.063 billion (US$10.57 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$10.41 billion of shares on the main board. Institutional investors were adjusting their portfolios, because global index provider MSCI Inc is scheduled to release the results of its quarterly index review early this morning, analysts said.
COMPUTERS
Advantech revenue rises
Industrial computer manufacturer Advantech Co (研華) yesterday reported revenue of NT$5.38 billion for last month, a 19.36 percent increase from NT$4,511 million a year earlier. Last month’s revenue was the third-highest in the company’s history, Advantech said in a statement. In terms of regions, Europe, North America and emerging markets were the best performers last month, posting annual revenue growth of 37 percent, 29 percent and 41 percent respectively, the company said. Among its business units, its service-Internet of Things (IoT) unit and applied computing unit had the most growth momentum, with annual sales growth of 74 percent and 58 percent respectively, it said. However, its cloud-IoT unit performed relatively poorly with a double-digit decline in sales from a year earlier due to component shortages and last year’s relatively high comparison base, it said. The company’s orders to shipments ratio reached 1.45 last month, it added.
LABOR
Furloughed workers drop
The number of workers on formal furlough programs in Taiwan has over the past week dropped below 13,000, but mainly because certain business sectors are still in the process of reporting their data, the Ministry of Labor said on Tuesday. The number of workers who agreed to take unpaid leave fell to 12,659 as of Monday, down 344 from the previous report released on Jan. 24, data compiled by the ministry showed. Meanwhile, the number of companies with furlough programs in place fell by 113 from a week earlier to 2,019.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Hon Hai sets Thai EV target
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has set a goal of producing 150,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand by 2030 through a joint venture that was launched there on Monday. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, said in a statement that Horizon Plus Co Ltd, the joint venture set up with state-owned oil supplier PTT Public Co, opened on Monday and would have an initial annual capacity of 50,000 units. That capacity is expected to rise to 150,000 units by 2030 to meet anticipated rising demand in Thailand and other Southeast Asian markets, the company said. Hon Hai in September last year signed a deal with PTT to establish the joint venture. The two companies said at the time that they would invest up to US$2 billion in the new company through subsidiaries, with Hon Hai holding a 40 percent stake and PTT the remaining 60 percent.
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
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.
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
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