TAIEX loses ground
Taiwanese share prices closed down 0.36 percent in thin trading yesterday as investors took cues from Wall Street’s weakness after a disappointing US payroll report, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 25.18 points at 6,977.36, off a low of 6,927.31 and a high of 7,010.93, on turnover of NT$60.68 billion (US$1.98 billion).
Capital Securities (群益證券) analyst Chen Yu-yu (陳育娛) said market movements in the US still dictated the gyrations of the local bourse as US employment data for last month had raised concerns over a faltering US economy.
“As long as Wall Street remains unstable, Taiwan cannot isolate itself from volatility suffered by global markets in the near term,” Chen said. “I do not rule out the possibility that the weighted index will test 6,800 points again this week.”
The tourism sector was down 5.75 percent, hit by local newspaper reports that the number of Chinese visitors to Taiwan was lower than expected, averaging 173.9 people per day, far lower than the daily target of 3,000 visitors.
Cash Box may sell buildings
After closing three outlets, Cash Box KTV (錢櫃) — the nation’s biggest karaoke chain — may plan to liquidate its two buildings in Taipei for up to NT$700 million (US$22.8 million) in total cash, local media reported yesterday.
Real-estate appraisers said the company’s building near Sogo department store on Zhongxiao E Road may be worth more than NT$200 million at NT$3.5 million per ping (3.3m²), while the building on Zhonghua Road would also be worth more than NT$200 million at NT$1.3 million to NT$1.4 million per ping.
But the media, citing anonymous sources, speculated that Cash Box may ask as much as NT$700 million for the buildings.
To continue its operations at the sites, Cash Box may plan to rent back the buildings from its new buyers once sales are completed, local media reported.
Lin takes First Financial reins
First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) yesterday named company vice president Lin Ying-hsiung (林英雄) as acting president after former president Wu Chin-yun (吳清雲) died of heart failure on Saturday.
During a hiking trip on Saturday morning, Wu suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage, which led to heart failure, doctors said.
The company expressed shock at the sudden death of Wu, who had worked for First Financial for more than 30 years and was named president two years ago.
Wu had planned to retire next year, the company said in a statement.
Produce offered online
The Changhua County Government yesterday launched a Web site selling vegetables, fruit and farm products online.
The site, agec.chcg.gov.tw, is part of the county government’s efforts to provide more sales channels for farm and fishery products from the county’s 26 townships, Changhua Commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) said.
The Web site is also aimed at advertising the county’s farm produce, said Chiu Shih-ping (邱士平), head of the county’s Department of Agriculture.
To ensure food safety, the county government is cooperating with 15 local farms to sell goods with traceability certification on the Web site, he said.
Other local governments have launched similar efforts to promote or market their farm produce on the Internet.
Taiwan has an Internet population of 14.8 million, up 1.7 percent from a year ago, a study released by the Institute for the Information Industry showed in February.
‘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
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
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS