EQUITIES
TAIEX rises on AI optimism
The TAIEX yesterday moved sharply higher on buying sparked by gains on Wall Street on Friday and ongoing optimism over the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, dealers said. While semiconductor stocks took a pause after a recent solid upturn, buying shifted to contract PC makers which also roll out AI servers, they said. The electronics index rose 1.17 percent, and the computer subindex gained 4.03 percent, while the semiconductor subindex edged up 0.52 percent, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. The TAIEX closed up 168.66 points, or 1 percent, at 17,084.20. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$332.014 billion (US$10.67 billion), with domestic proprietary traders buying a net NT$13.2 billion of shares, while investment trust companies sold a net NT$798.27 million and foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.73 billion in shares, TWSE data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$60.4bn
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$60.4 billion of local shares after buying a net NT$1.93 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華), Innolux Corp (群創) and AUO Corp (友達), while the top three bought were Tatung Co (大同), Unizyx Holding Corp (合勤) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶). As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$374.11 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$21.67 trillion, or 40.85 percent of total market capitalization, the exchange said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC pay hits NT$2.33m
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) median pay worldwide reached about NT$2.33 million last year, while the average compensation received by its production workers exceeded NT$1 million, a report released recently by the company showed. The average monthly income of TSMC employees last year was about four times Taiwan’s minimum monthly wage of NT$25,250, the company’s sustainability report said. It recruited 12,442 employees worldwide last year, including 7,817 for new high-quality jobs, providing competitive wages and incentives to maintain its talent pool, it said. On the back of improving finances, TSMC’s total compensation to employees worldwide grew NT$74.5 billion, or 45 percent, from a year earlier, to NT$239.5 billion last year, it said. Last year, the turnover rate of new hires was 15 percent, and the total turnover rate was 6.7 percent, the report said.
BANKING
E.Sun plans 150 voice ATMs
E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) plans to add 150 automatic teller machines (ATMs) featuring voice guidance capabilities for the visually impaired by the end of this year after launching 99 similar machines last year. A special keypad on the machines enables users with visual impairments to locate numbers while making transactions, the bank said. “It is our goal that all of our bank branches have at least one ATM for the visually impaired by the end of this year,” E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) president Joseph Huang (黃男州) said on Wednesday. The move is part of the bank’s efforts to build an inclusive financial service for clients, he said.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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