Reported 9 months ago
With the substantial procurement of wind power in Taiwan, national banks are seizing the opportunity, particularly led by CTBC Bank, which handled a specialized financing consortium of over NT$410 billion by the end of last year. The green energy development, amidst intensified climate change and environmental transitions, continues to attract attention. Banks are actively involved in renewable energy-related investment and financing cases, taking independent pricing based on individual circumstances. The importance of 'green finance' has surpassed that of gold, particularly with Taiwan's implementation of carbon fees and the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, posing challenges and requiring companies to reassess production costs.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in June had a total index of 72.69, increasing by 0.49 from the previous month. While most of the sub-indicators improved, the indicator for 'timing to invest in stocks in the coming six months' was the only one that decreased slightly, reflecting a heightened risk awareness among investors. The survey also revealed cautious optimism regarding the domestic economy and household financial conditions. However, concerns about inflation and export markets like the US and mainland China may impact future economic outlook.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
After Uni-President Group reclaims Eslite at Xinyi on June 27, 2024, they plan to develop a new mall called Dream Plaza. Apart from establishing Taiwan's first flagship Starbucks store, the future will also see the first physical bookstore of Eslite. Uni-President Beauty Business Chairman Gao Xiuling confirmed Eslite's entry, stating that it was his idea. The store aims to provide a serene space at Xinyi Dream Plaza for those transitioning from online to offline, indicating that it will offer a different setting compared to Eslite's previous entity. The store is scheduled to open next year, featuring various amenities including a supermarket on the ground floor.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
The US will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for June on the 28th, with a slight slowdown in April at 2.65% compared to March's 2.7%. Market estimates suggest a further slowdown in May, while strong US dollar flow towards US assets sacrifices other non-US currency financial markets. Foreign banks analyze that based on economic indicators, labor market indicators, and recent actions by the Federal Reserve, the US has a higher probability of a soft landing in the second half of the year rather than no landing or a hard landing. Standard Chartered Bank predicts a 55% chance of a soft landing, 25% chance of no landing, and 20% chance of a hard landing over the next 12 months, citing factors like decreasing inflation, potential interest rate cuts, reduced labor shortages, stable balance sheets, and boosted household spending from real estate and stock gains. Recent cooling of inflation and labor market trends indicate a continued slowdown, further supported by the unexpected Fed decision in May to slow the pace of asset balance sheet reduction. Expectations point towards a cautious approach by the Federal Reserve towards easing monetary policies to combat persistently high inflation levels and signal potential rate cuts later in the year. HSBC also notes lowered risks for bond yields increasing further, with potential rate cuts coming in the following year.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Micron, a leading memory manufacturer, reported better-than-expected financial results in the last quarter with prices of DRAM and NAND continuously increasing, indicating the upward trend in memory prices expected to continue until the end of 2024, with capital expenditures for the year around 8 billion USD, surpassing the original estimate of 7.5-8 billion USD. The trend is expected to benefit Taiwanese module manufacturers like Unigroup, ADATA, Wistron, Phison, and backend testing company ASE. Micron's revenue in the last quarter was 6.8 billion USD, and it is anticipated that the memory price hike trend will persist until the end of 2024 due to the growing demand driven by AI applications.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
According to the Central Bank's statistics, the total amount of returned bills in the first five months reached 156.73 billion yuan, an increase of 2.97% compared to the same period last year, and also a new high for the same period in nearly four years. Although the amount of returned bills in May decreased, large returns of over 100 million yuan were noted, including individual returns of 220 million yuan and corporate returns of 160 million yuan, totaling 380 million yuan. Bank officials emphasized that the increase in large returns did not necessarily reflect the overall market situation, with stable financial conditions for both businesses and individuals.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Yuanta Financial Holdings and Yuanta Cultural and Educational Foundation have been focusing on public welfare and education issues by launching the 'Dream Big Yuanta Public Welfare Project' for the 8th year. The project selects 9 groups to create a public welfare platform that gathers volunteers and partners. The project aims to spread love and light up every corner of society by collaborating with various resources for sustainable development. Yuanta has involved over 7,000 volunteers, served 45 groups, and benefited more than 200,000 people. Their goal is to care, guard, and support the community, with a focus on areas such as volunteering, child welfare, education, finance, healthcare, and environmental protection.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
On June 27, 2024, investment firm Stifel's analyst expressed optimism in Tesla's dominance in the electric vehicle market, particularly in Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities which could drive future growth, despite challenges facing the industry. The analyst viewed Tesla more as a tech company rather than an automaker and set a target price of $265. While Tesla's stock price dipped by 0.7% to $195.06 on the 27th, it is noted that Tesla remains unmatched in the EV market. With advancements in technology and the introduction of more affordable EV models, the market trend is predicted to improve, although this transition may take time. Analysts are upbeat about Tesla's AI technology, especially in the potential of FSD to create significant value through system sales, licensing agreements, and involvement in self-driving taxi projects.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Despite the consensus in the passive component industry that the destocking wave has brought about restocking, leading passive component companies Nationstar (2327) and distributor Nichia Electric Trading (3090) both experienced falling dividend trends on the first day of ex-dividends, with Nationstar dipping by about 20% at one point but ultimately closing slightly down due to selling pressure in the market. Nationstar went ex-dividend at NT$19.97238, with a reference price of NT$743, reaching a high of NT$747 before closing at NT$742. The dividend is set to be paid on July 19, with an additional NT$2 dividend pending announcement. Similarly, Nichia Electric Trading went ex-dividend at NT$3.4, with a reference price of NT$64.9, briefly filling the dividend at 2.94% before closing at NT$63.3, a decrease of 2.46%. Major shareholder Wintek Technology is expected to receive a dividend income of NT$105 million from Nichia Electric Trading this year. The dividends for Nichia Electric Trading are planned to be distributed on July 31.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
The Stock Exchange of Taiwan will work with securities firms to enhance anti-fraud functions in the securities market, aiming to raise awareness and protect investors from scams. This collaboration includes implementing measures such as strengthening regulations, conducting anti-fraud campaigns, enhancing information disclosure on fraud cases, and evaluating securities firms' anti-fraud efforts. The initiative aims to instill anti-fraud awareness among investors and maintain the integrity of the securities market.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
KGI Securities continues to uphold ESG sustainable investment principles by becoming the first financial institution in Taiwan to promote 'Social Responsibility Structured Notes' after launching Green Notes earlier this year. The aim is to provide investors with innovative and diverse asset allocation choices amidst the sustainable financial products investment trend, aligning with international standards and engaging in important topics such as fair transition. The funds raised through these notes will be used for promoting social responsibility, reducing social and economic inequalities, including regional economic development, social progress and rights protection, and improving local healthcare systems. KGI Securities aims to contribute to Just Transition and offer sustainable financial solutions to customers, employees, shareholders, and society by continuously introducing innovative wealth management products and services, enhancing ESG investment concepts and collaborating with clients to create positive sustainable impacts.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
According to Central University's Economics Professor Wu Daren, the recent surge in the housing market is not due to the new housing policy but a result of various anti-speculation measures implemented by cross-agency authorities such as the Central Bank over the years, driving prices higher. Wu emphasizes that policies like the 'Property and Land Consolidation Tax' and 'Average Land Rights Act' have restricted supply by locking new properties out of the market, leading to a shortage. Wu suggests that to tackle the issue of high house prices, the government should focus on increasing supply immediately, particularly through promoting urban renewal projects in areas like Hualien where many buildings have become dangerous after the earthquake, prioritizing housing safety and justice.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
The London Metal Exchange (LME), owned by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is considering establishing a metal delivery warehouse in Hong Kong to strengthen connections with the mainland metal market. LME's CEO, Matthew Chamberlain, mentioned that the site selection for the new warehouse requires considering legal and tax compliance factors. If the feasibility study confirms Hong Kong as a viable location, it could provide the best connection route to China, benefiting mainland customers with improved services. HKEX CEO, Charles Li, believes that the LME warehouse in Hong Kong can enhance links between the mainland physical metal market and international pricing, creating more arbitrage opportunities and reducing delivery network disparities and logistics costs.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
On June 27, 2024, Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lin Qinrong signed the 'Zuoying High-Speed Rail Technology Heart Public Renewal Project' with Xin Yang International Development Chairman Lin Zikuan, marking the initiation of the development project for the 'S Technology Corridor' in Northern Kaohsiung. The Xin Yang Group will invest NT$18.8 billion to construct three buildings covering 70,000 ping of floor space, including Grade A offices, residences, and boutique hotels, aiming to attract semiconductor industries such as TSMC, with an expected completion between 2031 and 2032. This project, part of Mayor Chen Chi-mai's 'North City Plan,' aims to transform the Zuoying area into a high-tech industrial gateway.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
The Financial Supervisory Commission is urging banks to enhance cybersecurity and financial technology measures. The Bankers Association held a board meeting on June 27, 2024, amending regulations for three major financial institutions, including rules for mobile application operations, information operations resilience, and self-regulation of operating Multi-Function Video Teller Machines (VTM). The expanded VTM functions are expected to be available at every branch, providing customers with enhanced convenience for financial services.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
On June 27, 2024, NetDragon (5478) opened at 143.5 yuan, with specific funds entering the market to lift the stock. By midday, it had risen by over 6%, closing at 150.5 yuan, up by 7 yuan or 4.88% for the day, with trading volume increasing to 1,857 shares. The power struggle over NetDragon's management rights ended after the shareholders' meeting, boosting market confidence and leading to a net purchase of 328 shares by three major institutional investors. In the second half of the year, NetDragon is expected to see increased sales of point cards and will also introduce new OMO interactive video services with 1,200 devices deployed nationwide. Additionally, its R&D subsidiary NetDragon is set to launch new products in Southeast Asia and mainland China, showing promising performance. For more news, check out Commercial Times covering updates on TSMC clearing roads in Kaohsiung, foreign capital entering Asia Pacific Telecom, and Far EasTone playing a supporting role.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Since the Dragon Boat Festival on June 27, 2024, 172 small and medium cap stocks have reached historical highs, influencing the performance of related funds. Despite a pullback after hitting a high on the 20th, the stock market maintained its position around the 10-day moving average due to a strong bullish trend, with many stock prices hitting new highs. In comparison to large-cap stocks, small and medium cap stocks have shown remarkable performance, with 172 stocks hitting new highs. Small and medium cap Taiwan stock funds have outperformed general equity funds both in the second quarter and year-to-date, with some funds showing over 10% growth, such as PGIM Pruksa's Small Cap Stock Fund, Fubon Elite Small Cap Fund, and Cathay Small and Medium Growth Fund.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
On June 27, 2024, Hugging Face's co-founder Clem revealed that Alibaba's latest open-source Qwen2-72B instruction fine-tuning version has topped the open-source model leaderboard. The evaluation, using 300 Nvidia H100 high-performance hardware, included over 100 mainstream open-source large models like Qwen2, Llama-3, Mixtral, and Phi-3 on rigorous benchmark test sets like BBH, MUSR, MMLU-PRO, GPQA. The assessment aims to provide a fair and accurate ranking, addressing developers' over-reliance on leaderboard rankings during model training by increasing evaluation difficulty to test real-world performance under more challenging conditions. Alibaba's Qwen2-72B model emerged as the new industry leader, followed by Meta's Llama-3-70B, and Alibaba's Qwen2-72B base version ranked third.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Kanghe Securities (6016) is enhancing fair customer service by implementing barrier-free facilities, paperless account opening at counters, organizing anti-fraud seminars, and providing sign language interpretation on-site for hearing-impaired customers. The company has conducted internal education and training on fair customer service principles for the past 3 years, installed barrier-free facilities at headquarters and branches, and adopted digital account opening services. Kanghe Securities also offers special services and care for elderly customers and those with mobility issues, aiming to provide friendly and fair financial services. Their initiatives include setting up a section on the website for young investors and hosting financial education seminars to cater to different customer demographics.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Intel achieved a significant breakthrough in integrated optical technology during the 2024 Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC), showcasing the industry's first fully integrated Optical Compute Interconnect (OCI) chip for high-speed data transmission. Intel's OCI chip can support 64 channels of 32 Gbps data transmission over fibers up to 100 meters, meeting the demands of AI infrastructure for high bandwidth, low power consumption, and long-distance transmission. This advancement, in collaboration with ASE, is expected to maintain high-quarter 800G product shipments and cater to growing AI customer needs transitioning from 800G to 1.6T, with enhancements in silicon photonics and optical solutions for improved data center performance.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Under the wave of AI boom, American e-commerce giant Amazon's stock price surged, breaking the $2 trillion mark for the first time on June 26, 2024, becoming the fifth U.S. company to achieve this milestone. With its stock price reaching $193.62 and a market value of $2.01 trillion, Amazon joined the ranks of tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, and Alphabet in the $2 trillion valuation club. Amazon's stock has risen by 27.5% this year, driven by the accelerated growth of its cloud business and cost-cutting measures led by CEO Andy Jassy.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
Private consumption offsetting weak investment led to Taiwan Institute for Economic Research revising the economic growth rate to 3.57% for 2024, with the GDP growth peak in the first quarter. Potential risks highlighted include cross-strait issues, climate change, dependency on export industries, and negative impacts of high-tech industries dominated by foreign capital. The institute emphasized the importance of improving domestic consumption to support the economy, projecting real private consumption growth at 2.75% and real private investment growth at 1.47% for 2024.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
On June 27, 2024, the US is set to release its May PCE data, and if the data meets or falls below market expectations, it could boost the Fed officials' confidence in cooling inflation and shift towards dovish talks. Only when the Fed clearly announces the exact timing of rate cuts to the market can there be a possible reversal of the recent strong US dollar and weak non-US currency trend. This hawkish statement by Fed Governor Michelle Bowman led to the US dollar rising, non-US currencies weakening, with Asian currencies particularly hit hard, causing the Renminbi to fall to a seven-month low. The New Taiwan Dollar also diverged from the recent bullish stock market momentum, facing significant depreciation due to foreign investors withdrawing profits, but it could gain support if the US and Taiwan stock markets continue their bull run attracting foreign inflows.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
In an effort to halve fertilizer use by 2050, Taiwan Fertilizer Company has announced a focus on developing slow-release fertilizers. These fertilizers release nutrients into the soil slowly and in a controlled manner, reducing the need for frequent application and preventing soil acidification and water eutrophication. By using their slow-release fertilizer 'GivePower No.1' on Chinese cabbage crops in Pishan, the harvest was successful with significantly reduced chemical fertilizer usage and increased crop yields. This initiative is supported by the chairman, who is an expert in environmental engineering, aiming to tackle climate change, promote green research and reduce carbon emissions. The smart fertilization methods have gained government support and will be tested by the Agricultural Experimentation Institute to benefit Taiwanese agriculture and the environment.
Source: YAHOO
Reported 9 months ago
At the shareholders meeting of Uni-President Enterprises on June 27, 2024, Chairman Kowledgeable stated that the group is currently in an unprecedented period of great opportunities! He emphasized the expanding market potential in various Asian countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, where Uni-President has been operating for 20 years with significant opportunities for expansion. Kowledgeable highlighted the company's plans to strengthen its presence in the Asian market, with a focus on China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Uni-President aims to rapidly expand its revenue in China and further increase the number of stores in Taiwan and the Philippines. The company's consolidated revenue last year was NT$581.1 billion, with strong growth in individual revenue and net profit. Kowledgeable highlighted the increasing challenges in the business environment and stressed the importance of healthy growth to withstand such challenges. Uni-President aims to achieve a revenue of RMB 50 billion in China to ensure sustainability and profitability, expressing optimism about the company's future development and expansion plans.
Source: YAHOO