EQUITIES
TAIEX falls 313.27 points
The TAIEX yesterday fell more than 300 points, after concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine drove heavy losses on US markets at the end of last week. Selling occurred across the board, with investors dumping liquid large cap tech stocks in the bellwether electronics sector, in particular in the semiconductor industry, pushing the main board below 18,000 points. The TAIEX closed down 313.27 points, or 1.71 percent, at 17,997.67. The electronics sector led the downturn, falling 2.19 percent, with the semiconductor subindex down 2.30 percent. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$259.44 billion (US$9.31 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$20.67 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners invest NT$15.5bn
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$15.5 billion of local shares in the first week after the Lunar New Year holiday, compared with a net NT$62.08 billion of shares sold prior to the week-long holiday, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$22.17 billion of local shares from the beginning of this year, it said. Last week, the top three shares that foreign investors bought were EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) and CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), while the top three sold were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Innolux Corp (群創) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), the exchange said. As of Friday, the market cap of shares held by foreign investors was NT$24.8 trillion, or 43.72 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
UMC halts some production
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said that operations at its subsidiary in Suzhou, China, have been partially suspended after a factory worker tested positive for COVID-19. UMC said in statement that it would gradually suspend production at the unit run by HeJian Technology (Suzhou) Co (和艦科技) to assist local authorities in screening all workers for COVID-19, after which full operations would resume. UMC said it remained upbeat about its first-quarter sales despite the incident, given that HeJian’s monthly production only accounted for about 5 percent of the company’s total revenue. UMC also predicted that its first-quarter shipments would remain stable, and that product prices and gross margin would also rise.
PLASTICS
FPG posts mixed results
The four major subsidiaries of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) yesterday posted mixed revenue results for last month, as rising global crude oil prices boosted sales at Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑石化) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), while the Lunar New Year holiday and low seasonal demand dragged down sales at Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台灣塑膠) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC, 台灣化學纖維). FPCC reported that revenue increased 5.7 percent month-on-month to NT$64.42 billion as revenue from its refining business increased 4.5 percent and naphtha cracking grew 15.7 percent. Nan Ya’s revenue rose 2.1 percent to NT$35.27 billion, but FPC’s sales declined 5 percent to NT$23.93 billion, while FCFC registered a 3.1 percent revenue drop to NT$30.31 billion.
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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