Shares close lower
Taiwanese shares closed 3.4 percent lower yesterday on Wall Street’s sharp fall and concerns over oil prices, dealers said. The weighted index closed down 283.28 points at 8,062.31 on turnover of NT$124.86 billion (US$4.11 billion).
“The sharp decline of Wall Street and the concerns over record highs in oil prices dealt another blow to the fragile market,” said Chen Yu-yu of Capital Securities Corp (群益證券).
“Optimism spurred by the possible easing of restrictions on Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan had been reflected over the past few weeks,” Chen said.
On the foreign exchange market, the NT dollar continued dropping against the US dollar and closed NT$0.076 lower at NT$30.451.
Turnover was US$1.092 billion on the Taipei Forex Inc.
AU Optronics eyes new factory
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world’s third-biggest maker of liquid-crystal displays, may spend NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion) to build an advanced factory to produce large television screens.
The investment would be for the first phase of the plant, with production capacity of about 30,000 panels a month, Hsiao Ya-wen (蕭雅文), a spokeswoman for the Hsinchu-based company, said yesterday. Construction will start next year and the factory may begin production as early as 2011, she said.
“We’re still at an initial planning stage,” Hsiao said.
The company hasn’t decided on the size of the screens to be produced or where in Taiwan the plant will be located, she said.
Electricity use set to increase
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) forecast electricity consumption will rise to record levels this year as an expanding economy fuels demand.
Electricity demand may reach 34,155 megawatts this summer, driving the reserve margin, or spare capacity at times of peak consumption, to 13.6 percent, Taipower said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. That’s below the government target of 16 percent.
Taiwan’s GDP will probably grow 4.78 percent this year, after the 5.72 percent gain last year, the government’s statistics bureau said on May 29.
“Our forecast is based on economic growth,” Clint Chou (周義岳), a Taipower spokesman, said by phone yesterday.
PRC inflation dips
China’s inflation rate dipped to a still-high 7.7 percent last month amid signs that efforts to rein in food prices were finally taking hold, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.
The decline in the consumer price index for last month was down from the 8.5 percent rate in April. However, economists warn that surging prices for crude oil and other commodities pose a continued threat, even as food price increases abate with the arrival of summer.
The lower CPI rate for last month did little to reassure investors jittery over the likelihood of further credit-tightening to contain inflation. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell for a seventh day yesterday, sinking 2.2 percent to 2,957.53, its lowest close in nearly 15 months.
Bank appoints new president
Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan) Ltd (渣打國際商銀) yesterday appointed Sunil Kaushal as its new president and chief executive officer, replacing Jim McCabe on July 1, the lender said in a statement.
McCabe will succeed Wu Chih-wei (吳志偉) as non-executive chairman of the bank, after Wu decided to step down to pursue his own career, the statement said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
RSS