EQUITIES
Foreign selling spikes
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$83.02 billion (US$2.86 billion) of local shares after selling a net NT$7.2 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$552.81 billion of local shares from the beginning of the year, it said. Last week, the top three shares foreign investors sold were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Innolux Corp (群創) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), while the top three shares they bought were CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), the exchange said. As of Friday, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$21.97 trillion, or 41 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
COMPUTERS
Ennoconn hits record sales
Industrial computer maker Ennoconn Corp (樺漢科技) yesterday reported that sales for last month were a record for March, bringing cumulative sales in the first quarter to a record high, despite headwinds such as the Russia-Ukraine war and raw material shortages. Consolidated revenue increased 41.4 percent month-on-month and 15.7 percent year-on-year to NT$9.56 billion, the company said in a statement. First-quarter revenue was up 20 percent annually to NT$24.22 billion. Ennoconn said the growth was across the board for its three major business units: with the design and manufacturing segment contributing 18.2 percent to the company’s total revenue, systems integration 40 percent and brand business 41 percent, it said.
E-COMMERCE
Momo sales rise 23.3%
E-commerce operator Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$7.53 billion for last month, up 23.3 percent from a year earlier and hitting a record for March. The online shopping business, which has benefited from a changing consumer pattern amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saw sales increase 25.5 percent on the back of robust demand for health and leisure products, cosmetics and household goods, the company said in a statement. In addition, sales of scooters and motorbikes surged during the back-to-school season, it said. Online shopping contributed 94.8 percent to last month’s total revenue, the company said. First-quarter revenue totaled NT$22.94 billion, up 24.9 percent from a year earlier and the second-highest quarterly revenue on record, it said.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai ups EV investment
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has poured more funds into an electric vehicle (EV) subsidiary, as it continues to explore business opportunities in this market. In a regulatory filing on Friday, Hon Hai said it has invested an additional US$39 million in Foxconn EV Technology Inc, taking about a 17 percent stake in the subsidiary. The new investments would allow Hon Hai to control a 100 percent stake in Foxconn EV Technology, which has served as a major investor, signing an agreement with Ohio-based pickup maker Lordstown Motors Corp to develop the Endurance electric pickup model. Separately, Hon Hai said its Longhua production site in Shenzhen in China’s Guangdong Province has obtained UL 2799 “Gold Level Certification” for its “Zero Waste to Landfill” efforts, making the complex “the world’s first comprehensive eco-park.”
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and