EQUITIES
Asian markets mostly higher
Asian and European markets mostly rose yesterday as investors kept an eye on the talks to raise the US debt limit to avert a “catastrophic” default. There has been some progress on reaching a deal, but Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads, although US President Joe Biden said he was confident the debt ceiling would be raised. In Taipei, the TAIEX closed down 27.31 points, or 0.18 percent, at 15,475.05, with turnover of NT$189.128 billion (US$6.14 billion). Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Mumbai rose, although there were losses in Manila and Jakarta. London, Paris and Frankfurt were all up in the morning as the EU lifted its economic growth forecast for this year.
EQUITIES
Foreigners are net sellers
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$7.74 billion of local shares after selling a net NT$9.33 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Innolux Corp (群創) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), while the top three bought were Tatung Co (大同), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$153.97 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.38 trillion, or 39.85 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
EQUITIES
TIB accounts up to 190,000
The number of “Qualified Investors” on the Taiwan Innovation Board (TIB) soared to 190,000 accounts as of the end of last month, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. That is up from nearly 90,000 accounts a year earlier. The TIB is the exchange’s new trading board for start-ups focused on the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, as well as promising biotechnology companies and firms that produce key components. Three companies are now trading their shares on the TIB, the exchange said. To further promote the new board, the exchange plans to give away six iPhones each month through December via lucky draws, and participants in the draws could also win a Gogoro electric scooter after the number of accounts exceeds 200,000, it said.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Shin Kong posts Q1 loss
Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) posted a net loss of NT$9.1 billion in the first quarter of the year, making it the only local financial holding company remaining in the red during the January-to-March period. That came as the company’s life insurance arm, Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), posted a net loss of NT$11.3 billion in the quarter, the largest quarterly loss in more than five years. The financial holding company plans to raise NT$16.4 billion of new funds in the second half of this year to improve the capital structure of its flagship insurance unit. The insurer might also consider disposing of some assets to boost its capital adequacy ration. Shin Kong Life’s bottom line deteriorated due to losses on foreign corporate bonds and foreign exchange, while the high costs of high-yield insurance policies also dragged on its profitability, its parent company said.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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