Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves last month shrank US$1.15 billion to US$547.81 billion, the second-lowest level this year as foreign capital continued to flow outward in search of better yields, the central bank said yesterday.
The latest balance put an end to two consecutive months of gains, and came after foreign portfolio managers raised stakes in local shares while wiring about US$8 billion to US$9 billion of cash dividends and investment gains abroad, Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民) told an online news conference in Taipei.
The volume of capital outflow is the highest in four months, consistent with the US dollar index’s 1.16 percent uptick during the same period, Tsai said, adding that the euro and yuan weakened against the greenback.
The TAIEX recovered 1.18 percent, or 174.34 points, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed after the government on July 12 said that it would activate the National Stabilization Fund to shore up the local bourse.
Altogether, foreign institutional players sold more than NT$1.05 trillion of local shares from March to last month in response to global monetary tightening and other unfavorable developments, central bank data showed.
The US Federal Reserve last month raised its policy rate by 0.75 percentage points for the third time this year in an effort to fight inflation.
Taiwan’s central bank had to intervene in the foreign exchange market to help stabilize the local currency, Tsai said.
It repeated the practice this week when it spotted larger fluctuations and transactions in the local currency market after China took action to protest the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he said.
Taiwan remains the world’s fourth-largest foreign exchange reserve holder after China, Japan and Switzerland, the central bank said.
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.044 against the US dollar, regaining some strength after hitting NT$30.01 in morning trading.
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,
RSS