Taiwan stocks dropped for the first day in five, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) after its European rival, STMicroelectronics NV, said fourth-quarter profit dropped 90 percent as demand slumped for chips that power mobile phones and digital video disc players.
The TAIEX fell 34.32, or 0.6 percent, to 5769.78, after rising as much as 2.7 percent. Three stocks dropped for every two that rose. Some NT$201.8 billion (US$5.8 billion) in shares changed hands, almost two-and-a-half times the six-month daily average.
"I'm buying stocks because money is flowing into my portfolio," said Simon Chao, who helps manage NT$1.3 billion in Taiwan stocks at President Investment Corp (統一投資). "But, I'm cautious. I'm worried the economic recovery may be slow, so I'm keeping an eye on company sales and looking for any improvements month on month."
The yen's decline could mean some investors may sell stocks on concern the Taiwan dollar will depreciate further and the value of their stock investments will fall. Chao said.
The New Taiwan dollar shed 0.1 percent to NT$35.105 against the US dollar, taking losses in the past month to 0.7 percent.
TSMC fell NT$1.50, or 1.7 percent, to NT$88.50. The biggest made-to-order chipmaker declined after the widely watched Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a price-weighted index of 16 companies involved in the design and manufacturing of chips, fell 4.6 percent Tuesday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co is expected to say tomorrow its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 85 percent to NT$3.3 billion, as sales fell by a third, analysts said.
Mobile phone operators rose as the government accepted, for a seventh day, bids for five so-called third-generation mobile-phone licenses worth at least NT$33.6 billion.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (
Nien Hsing Textile Co (
Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱半導體) fell NT$5, or 2.8 percent, to NT$175.
The third-best performer last year among Taiwan's 50 biggest companies by market value plans to raise about US$250 million by selling shares overseas, bankers involved said.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS