EQUITIES
TAEIX closes higher
The TAIEX closed higher yesterday even as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remained weak amid lingering concerns over inventory adjustments in the global IC industry. Investors tended to exit large-cap tech stocks such as TSMC while buying into old economy stocks, including machinery companies involved in renewable energy development and companies holding large amounts of carbon credits, keeping the main board in positive territory. The TAIEX closed up 57.30 points, or 0.37 percent, at 15,636.48, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Turnover totaled NT$224.355 billion (US$7.29 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$3.40 billion in shares on the main board, exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$38.13bn
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$38.13 billion of local shares after selling a net NT$30.30 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were AUO Corp (友達), China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) and Innolux Corp (群創), while the top three bought were Wistron Corp (緯創), Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子) and First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), the exchange said. As of Friday, foreign investors had bought NT$171.03 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of the shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.51 trillion, or 39.93 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
SHIPBUILDING
Jong Shyn wins defense bid
Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Co (中信造船) has won a Ministry of National Defense tender to build prototypes of two light frigates, the company said on Monday. It secured the contracts, valued at NT$9.05 billion, after two rounds of bidding and a review by the navy to build an anti-air light frigate and an anti-submarine light frigate, Jong Shyn said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing. Local media reported that the firm would start building the prototypes in the first half of this year, with delivery scheduled for October 2026. Jong Shyn, which is listed on the Emerging Stock Board, posted consolidated sales of NT$305 million in March, up 2.46 percent from a year earlier. In the first quarter of this year, its cumulative sales were NT$789 million, down 28.24 percent from a year earlier.
SEMICONDUCTORS
GlobalWafers’ net profit falls
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said gross margin fell to 40.6 percent in the first quarter, down 2.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, due to rising electricity and depreciation costs. While first-quarter revenue rose 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$18.62 billion on the back of robust demand in the automotive and industrial sectors, net profit fell 13.7 percent to NT$5 billion, or earnings per share of NT$11.49, the company said. Its 8-inch and 12-inch wafer plants operated at a higher utilization rate of at least 95 percent in the first quarter, and it could remain above 90 percent in the second quarter despite some expected headwinds, it said. The company said it is cautiously optimistic about the market outlook for the second half of the year. Its board of directors proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$9.5 per share for the second half of last year, with a total payout of NT$4.13 billion.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
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