EQUITIES
TAIEX follows US markets
The TAIEX closed higher yesterday on the back of buying spurred by Friday’s gains on US markets, which rose following better-than-expected jobs data for last month. The bellwether electronics sector led yesterday’s upturn on the main board, while buying was also seen among non-tech stocks, in particular in the electric engineering industry, giving additional support to the broader market. However, with the TAIEX exceeding 15,700 points, some investors shifted to the sell side to lock in earlier gains, while large-cap semiconductor stocks continued to move above their previous closing levels, helping the main board sustain its upturn by the end of the session. The TAIEX closed up 73.50 points, or 0.47 percent, at 15,699.57. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$214.79 billion (US$6.99 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$5.89 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners net sellers
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$9.33 billion of local shares after selling a net NT$38.13 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運), Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), while the top three bought were Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) and Ta Ya Electric Wire & Cable Co (大亞電線電纜), the exchange said. As of Friday, foreign investors had bought NT$161.71 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.54 trillion, or 39.86 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
FINANCE
Jko founder to keep reins
Jko Group (街口集團) founder Kevin Hu (胡亦嘉) yesterday said he would not relinquish control of Jko Fintech Co (街口金融科技), after food and beverage maker Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業) last week offered to buy a 40.4 percent stake in the subsidiary for NT$3.6 billion. Hu said Taisun would secure two director seats on Jko Fintech’s five-member board if the deal obtains regulatory approval, while Jko Group would hold the remaining three seats. Hu said the company would use the funds to raise the working capital of its electronic payment business and for expansion. Taisun’s majority shareholder, Long Bon International Co (龍邦), which has been pushing for a board reshuffle since last year, questioned the company’s decision on Saturday to invest in Jko Fintech. Hu said his company has no intention to get involved in Taisun’s management disputes.
COMPONENTS
Yageo revenue little changed
Yageo Corp (國巨), the world’s third-largest supplier of multilayer ceramic capacitors, yesterday said revenue reached NT$9.01 billion last month, little changed from March, attributable to continuing inventory adjustments on the supply chain. On an annual basis, revenue contracted 11.2 percent from NT$10.15 billion. During the first four months of this year, revenue dropped 12.8 percent to NT$35.11 billion from NT$10.27 billion a year ealier, the company said in a statement.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
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Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
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