EQUITIES
TAIEX rises due to TSMC
The TAIEX closed higher yesterday as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) rose for a third consecutive session. Dealers attributed the main board’s rally from an initial low to investors’ positive response to the US markets rebounding from earlier overnight losses. The TAIEX closed up 87.19 points, or 0.48 percent, at 18,375.40. Turnover totaled NT$284.890 billion (US$10.3 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$12.75 billion of shares on the main board. TSMC rose 1.38 percent to close at NT$660. Due to its heavy weighting of about 30 percent of the main board, TSMC’s gains contributed 75 points to the TAIEX’s rise.
STEELMAKERS
Feng Hsin revenue up 52%
Steelmaker Feng Hsin Steel Co (豐興) yesterday posted NT$553 million in pretax income for last month, surging 52 percent from NT$364 million the previous year, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. That represented a monthly increase of 11.49 percent from NT$496 million, the company said. For the full year last year, pretax income jumped 56 percent to NT$5.04 billion, from NT$3.24 billion in 2020, it said. Consolidated revenue totaled NT$38.36 billion last year, up 40.52 percent from NT$27.3 billion a year earlier, it added.
ELECTRONICS
Sercomm station approved
Telecom equipment supplier Sercomm Corp (中磊) said its new 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) small cell base station has obtained certification from the National Communications Commission, paving the way the product to be shipped to local telecoms. Sercomm beat local rivals in securing the certification, it said on Tuesday. Last year, the company obtained similar certification from the Federal Communications Commission for its 5G mmWave small cell base station, helping it to tap into the US market.
CHINA
Lending lower than forecast
New bank lending last month fell more than expected from the previous month, but lending for the whole of last year set a record, as the central bank maintained policy support to cushion the slowing economy. Banks last month extended 1.13 trillion yuan (US$177.51 billion) in new yuan loans, down from 1.27 trillion yuan in November and short of analysts’ expectations, data released yesterday by the People’s Bank of China showed. However, new bank lending hit a record 19.95 trillion yuan for the year, up 1.6 percent from 19.63 trillion yuan in 2020, the previous record.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Asian currencies could dip
Goldman Sachs Group Inc has warned that the New Taiwan dollar, South Korean won and Malaysian ringgit could weaken if growth stocks continue to slide. The underperformance of growth stocks coincides with weaker tech-centric emerging market currencies when risk sentiment is less favorable, Karen Reichgott Fishman, Goldman Sachs’ New York-based strategist, wrote in a note. The outlook for tighter monetary policy in the US and higher US Treasury yields have been weighing on technology shares globally, prompting a rotation from growth to value stocks. Asian currencies are under pressure as prospects of quicker rate hikes in the US bolster the greenback. The ringgit is Asia’s second worst-performing currency so far this year, with a loss of 0.4 percent, while the won is down 0.1 percent and the NT dollar is up 0.1 percent.
STRONG INTEREST: Analysts have pointed to optimism in TSMC’s growth prospects in the artificial intelligence era as the cause of the rising number of shareholders The number of people holding shares of chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a new high last week despite a decline in its stock price, the Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC, 台灣集保) said. The number of TSMC shareholders rose to 2.46 million as of Friday, up 75,536 from a week earlier, TDCC data showed. The stock price fell 1.34 percent during the same week to close at NT$1,840 (US$57.55). The decline in TSMC’s share price resulted from volatility in global tech stocks, driven by rising international crude oil prices as the war against Iran continues. Dealers said
PRICE HIKES: The war in the Middle East would not significantly disrupt supply in the short term, but semiconductor companies are facing price surges for materials Taiwan’s semiconductor companies are not facing imminent supply disruptions of essential chemicals or raw materials due to the war in the Middle East, but surges in material costs loom large, industry association SEMI Taiwan said yesterday. The association’s comments came amid growing concerns that supplies of helium and other key raw materials used in semiconductor production could become a choke point after Qatar shut down its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and helium output earlier this month due to the conflict. Qatar is the second-largest LNG supplier in the world and accounts for about 33 percent of global helium output. Helium is
Taiwan’s natural gas supply remains stable through the end of May, despite rising concerns about potential disruptions to Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies due to escalating conflicts in the Middle East, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan has completed preparations for natural gas supply and shipping schedules through the end of May. It has also made plans to increase natural gas imports from regions outside the Middle East in June to ensure a stable supply, it added. Taiwan sources natural gas from 14 countries and is not solely dependent on the Middle East,
China is clamping down on fertilizer exports to protect its domestic market, industry sources said, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. China is among the largest fertilizer exporters — shipping more than US$13 billion of it last year — and it has a history of controlling exports to keep prices low for farmers. Shipments through the war-blocked Strait of Hormuz account for about one-third of the sea-borne supply. This month, Beijing banned exports of nitrogen-potassium fertilizer blends and certain phosphate varieties, sources said. The ban, which has not
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