Spain vowed yesterday to pursue austerity and economic reforms after securing a eurozone rescue for its stricken banks of up to 100 billion euros (US$126 billion).
The treasury stressed that the vast loan would strengthen the solvency of Spanish public debt, and said it was committed to carrying on its program of bond auctions to raise financing.
Madrid share prices soared nearly 6 percent in opening trade yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
In the first minutes of trade, the IBEX-35 index of leading companies shot up 388.3 points or 5.93 percent to a peak 6,940.3. After 15 minutes, the market was still up a healthy 4.6 percent.
Stricken lender Bankia, which has been nationalized by the government, jumped 20.52 percent at one point. It was still up 18.56 percent at 1.22 euros after the first quarter-hour of trade.
Asian markets and the euro also rallied earlier yesterday, with Tokyo surging 1.96 percent, Seoul jumping 1.71 percent, Hong Kong moving up 2.44 percent and Chinese shares closing up 1.07 percent.
On forex markets, the single currency bought US$1.2631 and ￥100.55 against US$1.2514 and ￥99.49 in New York on Friday.
Spain’s borrowing costs fell, but remained at levels widely regarded as unsustainable over the longer term. The 10-year government bonds yields tumbled to a low of 6.017 percent from the previous close of 6.08 percent.
Keen to show no let-up in the government’s austerity drive and to banish concerns about the loan, which raises Spain’s overall public debt, the Economy Ministry and treasury issued a joint statement.
“The Spanish government remains committed to the program of fiscal consolidation and structural reforms that has earned Spain the confidence of its European partners,” it said.
See the euro on Page 9
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS