The nation’s securities account balance, a gauge of retail investors’ confidence in local equities, rose to its highest level in four months last month, as the TAIEX maintained its upward momentum from the previous month, data released by the central bank showed on Thursday.
The securities account balance increased for a second consecutive month to NT$3.34 trillion (US$106.70 billion), up NT$46.2 billion from NT$3.29 trillion in the previous month, the data showed.
In terms of the proportion of market transactions, retail investors accounted for 56.7 percent of the trading volume, compared with 56 percent one month earlier, while foreign institutional players accounted for 30.8 percent, down from 33.5 percent, the data showed.
Photo: Bloomberg
The central bank’s latest data reflected that stock market sentiment remained bullish in the past two months as the TAIEX averaged 17,570 points last month, up from 16,978 points in November and 16,422 points in October.
The daily average turnover on the local bourse also expanded to NT$292 billion last month, compared with NT$271.4 billion in November and NT$248.5 billion in October, the data showed.
The benchmark index yesterday closed at 17,995.03 points, down 0.04 percent from the previous session but having risen 0.4 percent so far this month, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s data showed.
“The securities account balance last month hit the third highest on record and the annual growth rate in M2 money supply is still within the central bank’s target of between 2.5 percent and 6.5 percent despite five interest rate hikes since March 2022, indicating that funding activity in the private sector remained vibrant and the liquidity level in the entire market is still abundant — which is beneficial to consumption, the stock market and other investment activities,” Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a note on Thursday.
With the continued increase in the securities account balance, M1B money supply — a measure of money in circulation, including currency and passbook savings deposits — posted an annual growth rate of 3.11 percent, up from a 3.03 percent increase in November, the central bank said in a report, attributing the increase to faster annual growth in passbook savings deposits.
The annual growth rate in broader measure M2 — which includes time deposits, time-saving deposits, foreign currency deposits, mutual funds and M1B — slowed to 5.3 percent from 5.33 percent, due to a sequential decrease in net foreign capital inflows, it said.
For the whole of last year, M1B rose 2.82 percent and M2 advanced 6.25 percent from a year earlier, central bank data showed.
“The latest money supply data show that the liquidity in the nation’s financial system remains sufficient within a neutral-to-loose monetary policy environment, which is conducive to overall economic growth,” Yuanta said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
RSS