Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) yesterday said that the commission will not rule out lifting a ban on the short-selling of stocks at less than the previous day’s closing prices, as the local stock market is regaining strength.
However, Tseng said that a few more days of observation is needed before scrapping the ban, depending on the TAIEX’s trading prices and turnout.
“The ideal turnover is about NT$12 billion [US$365.74 million] per day,” Tseng said.
Although the TAIEX outperformed neighboring markets in Japan and China yesterday, it is still being affected by uncertainties over the US Federal Reserve’s intention to hike interest rates, he said.
The regulator had imposed a ban on short-selling after the TAIEX fell below the 10-year moving average of 7,800 points on Aug. 21. The TAIEX yesterday rose 1.94 percent, or 155.74 points, to close at 8,174.92.
“Toward the end of [yesterday’s] session, we detected a sudden spike in share-buying totaling about NT$20.94 billion that sent the TAIEX soaring to a 108-point gain,” Tseng said.
Based on its scale, the buying spree was likely the work of foreign institutional investors, as the National Financial Stabilization Fund (國安基金) cannot be activated when the market is rising, he added.
Tseng was speaking at the sidelines of a forum on promoting consolidation in the nation’s banking sector.
During his address, Tseng said that consolidation through mergers and acquisitions remains the key for the nation’s banking sector to adapt to emerging trends such as the rise of Internet, big data, mobile and cloud technologies, as well as social networks that might usher in disruptive changes.
“The nation currently has 38 banks, 74 securities brokerages and 42 insurance carriers, which is simply excessive,” Tseng said.
He said that most of the smaller players simply do not have the scale to furnish the immense investments required, as financial services inevitably migrate toward digital channels and vie for markets in the greater Asia-Pacific region beyond the confines of Taiwan.
“The purpose of this event is to communicate this fact to smaller banks and I would urge them to consider merger and acquisition offers while their value is still high,” Tseng told reporters.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS