EQUITIES
Investors remain cautious
The TAIEX yesterday closed slightly higher after giving up most early gains, as market sentiment remained cautious ahead of the conclusion of a two-day policymaking meeting of the US Federal Reserve later in the day, dealers said. Large-cap tech stocks moved up and down throughout the session, while the transportation sector came under heavy pressure led by major shipping stocks, they said. Many tech heavyweights fell from their highs, while late-session bargain hunting prevented them from ending lower, which dealers said they attributed to government-led funds offsetting a foreign institutional sell-off. The TAIEX closed up 14.77 points, or 0.09 percent, at 16,940.83. Turnover totaled NT$397.158 billion (US$13.875 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$14.999 billion of shares on the main board after selling a net NT$53.83 billion on Tuesday.
COMPUTERS
Quanta net profit rises 7.6%
Contract laptop maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) yesterday posted a net profit of NT$9.28 billion for the final quarter of last year, a 7.6 percent year-on-year increase despite persistent shortages of key components. That led to a whole-year net profit of NT$33.65 billion, a 32.9 percent year-on-year increase, or earnings per share of NT$8.73, the highest in the company’s history. Quanta’s board of directors yesterday proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$6.6 per common share, representing a payout ratio of 75.6 percent. With Quanta shares closing at NT$92 yesterday, the proposed dividend represents a cash yield of 7.17 percent. The dividend proposal is subject to shareholders’ approval at the company’s annual general meeting on June 17 in Taoyuan, Quanta said.
INVESTMENT
CDFHC net profit hits record
China Development Financial Holding Co (CDFHC, 中華開發金控) yesterday reported record net profit of NT$35 billion for last year, up 177 percent from 2020, thanks to stable contributions from its major subsidiaries, such as China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽), KGI Bank (凱基銀行), KGI Securities Ltd (凱基證券) and CDIB Capital Group (中華開發資本). The company told investors that it would raise its dividend payout this year, after it paid out a cash dividend of NT$0.55 per share last year, adding that it has yet to finalize the distribution plan. Despite fluctuations in local equities in the past few sessions, the company said that its outlook on the local bourse remains cautiously optimistic, citing sound fundamentals at Taiwan’s listed firms.
BANKING
Sunny Hsu released on bail
Former Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) spokesman and senior vice president Sunny Hsu (徐順鋆) was on Tuesday released on bail of NT$200,000 after being questioned regarding suspected insider trading. Hsu and five other people, including Shin Kong Financial spokesman and vice president Stan Lee (李超儒), were earlier in the day summoned to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to answer questions about an April 2018 merger. At that time, Shin Kong Financial announced that it would acquire MasterLink Securities Co (元富證券), in which it held a 33.45 percent stake, via a share swap valued at about NT$13 billion to bring the firm fully under its corporate umbrella. On Tuesday, prosecutors and investigators also collected evidence for the case at five locations. After being questioned, Lee was released on bail of NT$300,000, prosecutors said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
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