EQUITIES
Investors bank on US rally
The TAIEX moved sharply higher to close above 18,100 points yesterday, as upward momentum on the main board continued from the previous session after an overnight rally on US markets. Buying rotated to the bellwether electronics sector as investors took their cues from a robust showing by tech stocks in the US, while select old economy stocks continued to post gains on the back of growing raw material prices worldwide. The TAIEX closed up 185.20 points, or 1.03 percent, at 18,151.76, after moving between 18,039.23 and 18,168.60. Turnover totaled NT$294.063 billion (US$10.57 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$10.41 billion of shares on the main board. Institutional investors were adjusting their portfolios, because global index provider MSCI Inc is scheduled to release the results of its quarterly index review early this morning, analysts said.
COMPUTERS
Advantech revenue rises
Industrial computer manufacturer Advantech Co (研華) yesterday reported revenue of NT$5.38 billion for last month, a 19.36 percent increase from NT$4,511 million a year earlier. Last month’s revenue was the third-highest in the company’s history, Advantech said in a statement. In terms of regions, Europe, North America and emerging markets were the best performers last month, posting annual revenue growth of 37 percent, 29 percent and 41 percent respectively, the company said. Among its business units, its service-Internet of Things (IoT) unit and applied computing unit had the most growth momentum, with annual sales growth of 74 percent and 58 percent respectively, it said. However, its cloud-IoT unit performed relatively poorly with a double-digit decline in sales from a year earlier due to component shortages and last year’s relatively high comparison base, it said. The company’s orders to shipments ratio reached 1.45 last month, it added.
LABOR
Furloughed workers drop
The number of workers on formal furlough programs in Taiwan has over the past week dropped below 13,000, but mainly because certain business sectors are still in the process of reporting their data, the Ministry of Labor said on Tuesday. The number of workers who agreed to take unpaid leave fell to 12,659 as of Monday, down 344 from the previous report released on Jan. 24, data compiled by the ministry showed. Meanwhile, the number of companies with furlough programs in place fell by 113 from a week earlier to 2,019.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Hon Hai sets Thai EV target
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has set a goal of producing 150,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand by 2030 through a joint venture that was launched there on Monday. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, said in a statement that Horizon Plus Co Ltd, the joint venture set up with state-owned oil supplier PTT Public Co, opened on Monday and would have an initial annual capacity of 50,000 units. That capacity is expected to rise to 150,000 units by 2030 to meet anticipated rising demand in Thailand and other Southeast Asian markets, the company said. Hon Hai in September last year signed a deal with PTT to establish the joint venture. The two companies said at the time that they would invest up to US$2 billion in the new company through subsidiaries, with Hon Hai holding a 40 percent stake and PTT the remaining 60 percent.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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