EQUITIES
TAIEX losses continue
The TAIEX yesterday extended losses from a week earlier, falling more than 100 points, as investors reacted to heavy losses by semiconductor stocks on the US market on Friday. Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, kept moving lower throughout the day, driving the broader market near 14,200 points by the end of the session, amid fears over growing inflation and rate hikes worldwide. The TAIEX closed down 126.02 points, or 0.88 percent, at 14,217.06. Turnover totaled NT$231.889 billion (US$7.8 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$6.58 billion of shares on the main board. TSMC lost 2.98 percent to close at the day’s low of NT$440, and its losses contributed about 110 points to the TAIEX’s losses, dealers said.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$40.07bn
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$40.07 billion in local shares after selling a net NT$22.98 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$953.08 billion in local shares since the beginning of the year, the exchange said. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) and Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), while the top three shares bought by foreign investors were AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), it said. As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$17.77 trillion, or 39.79 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Sporton revenue soars
Sporton International Inc (耕興), which provides professional product testing and certification services for handsets and telecommunications equipment, yesterday reported that its revenue last month increased 1.63 percent month-on-month and rose 20.84 percent year-on-year to a record NT$435.12 million. The increase was due to robust demand from customers as the market continues to embrace emerging technologies and next-generation applications despite rising inflationary pressures, it said in a statement. Revenue in the second quarter rose 3.49 percent from the previous quarter and was 22.88 percent higher than a year ago to a record NT$1.28 billion, the company said. As a result, cumulative revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$2.51 billion, up 22.64 percent from a year earlier, it said.
INSURANCE
Hotai Insurance head resigns
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, yesterday announced the resignation of the president of Hotai Insurance Co (和泰產險). John Chuang (莊瑞德) is to step down on Thursday next week, Hotai Motor said in a regulatory filing. It did not cite a reason for the resignation of Chuang, who took up the position in February last year. He was a former vice president of the semi-official Taiwan Insurance Institute (保險事業發展中心). Hotai said that it would appoint a new president at a board of directors’ meeting. Hotai Insurance is among several local firms planning to raise capital to bolster its finances, as about NT$990 million in compensation claims from COVID-19 insurance policyholders are weighing on its bottom line.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
Memory chip stocks extended their losses yesterday after Alphabet Inc’s Google publicized research that could allow more efficient use of the storage needed for artificial intelligence (AI) development. SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, South Korean leaders in the market, fell more than 6 percent and about 5 percent respectively in Seoul. In the US, Micron Technology Inc, Western Digital Corp and Sandisk Corp slid more than 2 percent in pre-market trading, after they all closed lower on Wednesday. Memory companies have been on a tear in recent months as the rapid development of AI infrastructure triggered a spike in chip
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