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.
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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