EQUITIES
TAIEX flat due to US markets
Shares in Taiwan closed nearly flat yesterday, after moving into consolidation mode, as investor sentiment was dictated by a lackluster performance on Wall Street after a hawkish statement given by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, dealers said. Lingering concerns over Russia’s war with Ukraine also weighed on the main board, with the bellwether electronics sector — led by large-cap semiconductor stocks — taking the brunt of the pressure, they said. The TAIEX closed down 0.65 points at 17,559.71, after moving between 17,468.55 and 17,573.29. Turnover totaled NT$235.455 billion (US$8.25 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$354 million of shares on the main board after buying a net NT$196 million on Monday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$39.32bn
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$39.32 billion of local shares after selling NT$180.98 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement on Monday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$478.75 billion of local shares from the beginning of the year, it said. Last week, the top three shares foreign investors sold were China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), while the top three shares they bought were China Steel Corp (中鋼), Tatung Co (大同) and Pegatron Corp (和碩), the exchange said. As of Friday, the market cap of shares held by foreign investors was NT$22.52 trillion, or 41.60 percent of total market cap, it said.
ELECTRONICS
Tong Hsing revenue to drop
Tong Hsing Electronic Industries Inc (同欣電), an image sensor packaging services arm of Yageo Corp (國巨), yesterday said revenue this quarter would likely drop by a single-digit percentage from a quarter earlier due to seasonal factors. However, the firm remains positive about its business performance for the whole of this year, expecting revenue to hit another record compared with last year’s NT$13.88 billion, as customer demand remains strong, Tong Hsing president Heinz Ru (呂紹萍) told investors in a teleconference. Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensor packaging services would grow at the fastest rate this year, while ceramic substrate, radio-frequency module and mixed IC module businesses would also see steady growth, he said. The firm’s new production facilities in Taoyuan’s Bade District (八德) are expected to begin installing equipment in August and start volume production in the fourth quarter, chief operating officer Chang Chia-shuai (張嘉帥) said. The firm has budgeted a capital expenditure of NT$1 billion for this year. Net profit rose 90.6 percent year-on-year to NT$2.77 billion last year, the highest in the firm’s history, with earnings per share rising from NT$7.88 to NT$15.49, company data showed.
LOTTERY
Winning invoices unclaimed
Four NT$10 million-winning uniform invoices and nine NT$2 million winners issued in November and December last year remain unclaimed, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The winning serial number for the NT$10 million prize is 31150905 and the one for the NT$2 million prize is 28564531, the ministry said. It urged those with winning receipts who have yet to claim their prize to do so by the May 5 deadline. The ministry said the winning numbers for invoices issued in January and last month would be drawn on Friday.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,