Optimism pushes shares higher
Shares closed 1.48 percent higher yesterday as investors were encouraged by optimism on Wall Street that the US Federal Reserve might cut its key rate and give the market a big push, dealers said.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's reported remark in a letter to Senator Charles Schumer that policymakers were "prepared to act as needed" if the market's turbulence hurts the economy renewed hopes for such a move, they said.
Select Taiwanese companies reported solid earnings for the first half to June, contributing further to upbeat trade on the broad market, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 127.89 points at 8,771.21. Turnover was NT$156.21 billion (US$4.73 billion).
Risers led decliners 1,280 to 437 with 215 stocks unchanged.
On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.010 to close at NT$33.050.
Foreign fund managers brought a net NT$10.65 billion in Taiwanese stocks yesterday, the stock exchange's statistics showed.
Turnover was US$738 million on the Taipei Forex Inc.
Uni-President shares hit high
Shares in the nation's largest processed food maker, Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), were at a record high after second quarter profit doubled and Citigroup Inc raised its target price yesterday.
The Tainan-based maker of instant noodles and drinks rose NT$2.35, or 6.93 percent, to NT$36.25.
Uni-President's second quarter profit more than doubled from a year earlier to NT$2.3 billion, figures derived by Bloomberg by subtracting first quarter net income from first half earnings released on Wednesday showed.
Uni-President's profit in the first half surged 140 percent from a year earlier to NT$4.98 billion, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Citigroup Inc raised its price forecast for the stock to NT$41 from NT$33.90, citing the better-than-expected second quarter profit.
Computer giants sued in US
Apple Inc, Dell Inc and Acer Inc were sued by a Californian firm that owns a patent covering a method for decoding audio and video signals for faster playback or recording on a computer yesterday.
Apple's MacPro, Mac Mini, MacBook and iMac are among the computer models that infringe a patent issued last year for a "method and system for direct recording of video information onto a disk medium," software maker Mediostream Inc said in a complaint filed in a US federal court in Tyler, Texas.
Dell, Acer and Gateway Inc computers also infringe the patent, Mediostream, based in Los Altos, California, contends. The company seeks cash compensation for past infringements and an order permanently banning all four companies from using the invention.
ITC turn down Philips request
Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe's largest consumer electronics maker, said a US trade panel has refused to delay a ban on importing chips made by Epistar Corp (晶元光電) while the case is appealed.
In May, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) said that imports of certain light-emitting diode chips made by Epistar should be blocked because they infringe a patent owned by Philips Lumileds. The chips are used in traffic signals and brake lights.
Epistar asked the Washington-based trade agency and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which will hear the appeal, to put the ban on hold while the company challenges the underlying infringement ruling.
Should the Federal Circuit also reject Epistar's request to extend the delay, the import ban will be enforced, Philips said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said
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