EQUITIES
Asian markets extend gains
Asian markets extended a Wall Street advance into yesterday as forecast-busting US earnings and consumer confidence data tempered worries about a deep recession. With the dust settling after the Bank of Japan’s surprise shift from ultra-loose monetary policy, investors embarked on a mini Santa rally ahead of the Christmas break. Taipei’s benchmark TAIEX closed up 208.54 points, or 1.47 percent, at 14,442.94. Turnover was NT$212.138 billion (US$6.91 billion), down from NT$218.817 billion the previous day. Shares in Hong Kong rose 2.7 percent and Tokyo gained 0.5 percent, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila were also well up. However, toward the end of the day, Shanghai dipped 0.5 percent on worries about rising COVID-19 cases, while Mumbai also dropped.
SECURITIES
Firms’ incomes increase
Securities firms in Taiwan reported combined net income of NT$5.465 billion last month, compared with a net loss of NT$876 million in October, due to increases in brokerage fee income, dealers’ trading income and underwriting income, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said yesterday. The exchange attributed the increases to a rise in securities transactions last month, when trading on the main board grew 28.28 percent month-on-month to NT$4.953 trillion. In the first 11 months of this year, the combined accumulated net income of securities firms was NT$34.721 billion, down 64.65 percent from NT$98.233 billion in the same period last year.
TECHNOLOGY
MediaTek retains No. 5 spot
Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) remained the fifth-largest IC designer in the world in the third quarter, despite its sales being affected by weakening demand for Chinese smartphone brands, market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said last week. Data compiled by the Taipei-headquartered advisory firm showed that MediaTek posted US$4.68 billion in sales in the July-to-September period, with a 12.5 percent share of the global IC design market. US-based Qualcomm Inc remained the largest IC designer in the third quarter, generating US$9.90 billion in sales, a market share of 26.5 percent. Broadcom Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, also from the US, were the second, third and fourth-largest IC designers in the quarter with market shares of 18.6 percent, 16.3 percent and 14.9 percent respectively, TrendForce said.
BANKING
CTBC stays above gauge
CTBC Bank (中國信託商銀) last quarter remained the only bank among the nation’s six domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) that retained a capital adequacy gauge above the new minimum requirements for implementation in 2025, the Financial Supervisory Commission said last week. CTBC’s common equity tier-1 ratio, tier-1 capital ratio and capital adequacy ratio were 11.68 percent, 13.18 percent and 15.02 percent respectively, higher than the minimum requirements of 11 percent, 12.5 percent and 14.5 percent, it said. The gauges provide regulators and investors with information required to estimate whether a bank can withstand financial stress. To meet higher requirements, a bank usually boosts its core capital or reduces its loans. The other five D-SIBs are Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行), Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行), Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行).
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
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