CPC to lower gas prices
Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) said yesterday that the ministry had discussed with state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) lowering wholesale prices of gasoline products by NT$0.6 per liter and NT$0.7 per liter for diesel products.
CPC will formally announce its latest price adjustments today, effective tomorrow.
The company will begin applying a new pricing scheme this month, linking domestic prices to Dubai and Brent crude oil prices.
CPC-Hsin Ban merger approved
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday approved a merger application from CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油), saying the deal would not make a significant impact on the domestic market.
CPC, which runs 659 gas stations nationwide, applied with the commission to merge with smaller rival Hsin Ban (欣邦), which owns 70 pump stations across Nantou County.
The commission said that it was not opposed to the merger as competition in the local market would remain fierce regardless of whether the companies merged.
Wheat futures hit record
Wheat futures in Chicago climbed to a record, heading for the biggest monthly gain in 34 years, as demand from importers including South Korea and India reduced global inventories.
Prices of the grain have doubled in the past year as adverse weather in Ukraine, Canada, Europe and Australia damaged crops. Global stockpiles will fall to the lowest in 26 years by May 31, the US Department of Agriculture said.
Buyers in Egypt, the world's biggest importer after Brazil, and Taiwan have also sought the grain.
Wheat for December delivery rose as much as US$0.23, or 2.9 percent, to US$8.07 a bushel in electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade.
The commodity has gained 28 percent this month, the most since August 1973.
Three banks approve merger
The boards of three state-run banks -- the Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), the Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) and the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀行) -- yesterday unanimously approved resolutions to merge the three banks into a financial holding company.
The boards also agreed on share swap ratios.
The boards of the three banks agreed to apply with the Financial Supervisory Commission for the establishment of the Taiwan Financial Holding Co (台灣金控) in November and register with the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the new entity in January.
The three parties agreed on a share-swap ratio of one share of the Land Bank of Taiwan for 1.1456 shares of the Bank of Taiwan, and one share of the Bank of Taiwan for 0.3871 shares of the Export-Import Bank.
On Aug. 15, the Cabinet announced the plan to form the national financial holding company by the end of this year.
The Cabinet expects the new entity to garner a local market share of at least 10 percent as well as rank as the 18th-largest bank in Asia.
NT dollar remains strong
Buoyed by continued foreign fund inflows, the New Taiwan dollar yesterday remained strong against its US counterpart and closed NT$0.054 higher at NT$32.996.
Turnover was US$923 million on the Taipei Forex Inc, compared to US$738 million in the previous day.
Foreign investors bought a net of NT$16.63 billion (US$504 million) worth of Taiwan shares, the data from the stock exchange showed.
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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