Foreigners sold a record NT$1.23 trillion of shares last year
Foreigners sold a record NT$1.23 trillion of shares last yearBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterForeign institutional investors last year sold a net NT$1.23 trillion (US$40.07 billion) of local shares, the highest amount on record, after selling a net NT$23.82 billion in the final week of the year, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The exchange’s data showed that they sold a net NT$454.09 billion in 2021 and a net NT$539.52 billion in 2020. Photo: CNALast year, the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$17.49 trillion, accounting for 39.56 percent of total market capitalization, the exchange said. Shares in financial holding firms faced huge selling pressure last year due to increased volatility in the global stock and bond markets amid central banks’ monetary tightening. Surging COVID-19 insurance claims in Taiwan were another negative factor for some financial holding firms, such as Shin Kong Financial, Fubon Financial and Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), that count insurance business as one of their major sources of earnings.
Source:Taipei Times
January 04, 2023 21:27 UTC
AI-infused everything on show at CES extravaganza
Photo: AFPThe CES show officially opens on Thursday, but companies would begin to vie for the spotlight with the latest tech wizardry as early as today. CES is to be spread over more than 7 hectares, from the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center to pavilions set up in parking lots. After being a major theme at CES last year, virtual reality headgear aimed at transporting people to the metaverse are expected to again to figure prominently. Tech designed to better assess health and connect remotely with care providers would also be strong at CES. “If you are the kind of person who is off the grid growing vegetables, then CES is not for you,” Greengart said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2023 09:15 UTC
Shooters attack Kashmir village, killing four civilians
Shooters attack Kashmir village, killing four civiliansAP, SRINAGAR, IndiaAssailants sprayed bullets toward a row of civilian homes in a remote village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, leaving at least four civilians dead and five injured, police said yesterday. Police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for decades for carrying out the attack at Dhangri village in southern Rajouri district, which is close to the highly militarized Line of Control that divides the disputed region between India and Pakistan. Supporters of right-wing Hindu group Rashtriya Bajrang Dal yesterday protest in Jammu, India, after an attack in the southern Rajouri district of Indian-controlled Kashmir. Two shooters indiscriminately opened fire on Sunday night at three houses in Dhangri, Indian Police Service official Mukesh Singh told reporters. Rebels in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989.
Source:Taipei Times
January 02, 2023 23:21 UTC
World markets begin the year mixed
World markets begin the year mixedAP, BANGKOKShares began this year mixed, with European benchmarks opening higher yesterday after a lackluster session for the few Asian markets not closed for New Year holidays. Germany’s DAX gained 0.6 percent in early trading to 14,002.67 and the CAC 40 in Paris added 1.2 percent to 6,550.08. A man walks past a screen showing the KOSPI and the KOSDAQ at the Korea Exchange in Seoul yesterday. The specter of recession in the US and other major economies, as well as a prolonged slump in China, are factors overhanging markets. On Friday, US markets logged more losses in quiet trading, closing the book on the worst year for the benchmark S&P 500 since 2008.
Source:Taipei Times
January 02, 2023 23:21 UTC
S Korean exports continue to decline on cooling global demand, economic risk
S Korean exports continue to decline on cooling global demand, economic riskBloombergSouth Korea’s exports continued to decline last month in a sign of cooling global demand as higher interest rates weigh on consumption. Photo: ReutersSouth Korean exports are a major barometer of global commerce and tech demand as the nation produces key items such as chips, displays and refined oil. South Korean exports last year increased 6.1 percent, while imports rose 18.9 percent. Exports would likely fall 4.5 percent this year and imports could decline 6.4 percent, the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance said. Exports to China fell 27 percent year-on-year last month, while shipments to the US increased 6.7 percent, the trade ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 01, 2023 19:01 UTC
China’s manufacturing activity shrinks
The data offered the first official snapshot of the manufacturing sector after China removed the world’s strictest COVID-19 restrictions last month. Weakening external demand on the back of growing global recession fears amid rising interest rates, inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could further slow China’s exports, hurting its massive manufacturing sector and hampering an economic recovery, they said. “So even though China is opening up, manufacturing is still going to slow down because the rest of the world’s economy is slowing down. GDP expanded 3 percent in the first nine months of last year, compared with China’s official full-year goal of around 5.5 percent. The official composite PMI, which combines manufacturing and services, declined to 42.6 from 47.1.
Source:Taipei Times
January 01, 2023 19:01 UTC
Lawsuit filed to revoke election results
Lawsuit filed to revoke election resultsINVESTIGATION: Prosecutors in Nantou and Miaoli counties yesterday filed litigation to prevent elected officials who allegedly engaged in vote-buying from taking officeBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterFive Nantou County councilors and Miaoli County commissioner-elect Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) could be booted out of office in lawsuits filed by prosecutors, following probes into vote-buying allegations in the run-up to November’s local elections. Following an investigation into contraventions of election law during campaigning, prosecutors in Nantou County yesterday filed to nullify the votes involving 13 winning candidates, including five county councilors, seven township representatives and one village head. Chung’s major backers were led by then-incumbent KMT county commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), and most KMT county councilors. Miaoli prosecutors also listed independent county councilor-elect Huang Sheng-chuan (黃聲全) in litigation to revoke county councilor seats, as well as nine winning township representatives and three village wardens. In Taitung County, prosecutors found vote-buying evidence against six winning candidates, including five township representatives and one village warden, and filed litigation to invalidate the election outcome in those districts.
Source:Taipei Times
January 01, 2023 10:42 UTC
World to face more pain as economic issues linger
World to face more pain as economic issues lingerBy Ali Bekhtaoui and Mathilde Dumazet / AFP, ParisIt was supposed to be the comeback year for the world economy following the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since World War II we have never seen such a complicated situation.”After the COVID-19-induced economic crisis of 2020, consumer prices began to rise in 2021 as countries emerged from lockdowns and other restrictions. However, the IMF still expects the world economy to expand this year, with growth of 2.7 percent. Floods in Pakistan resulted in US$30 billion in damage and economic loss this year. However, the UN summit ended without new commitments to phase out the use of fossil fuels, despite the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming.
Source:Taipei Times
December 31, 2022 18:03 UTC
Billionaires see wealth shrink amid last year’s stock crunch
Billionaires see wealth shrink amid last year’s stock crunchAFP, WASHINGTONThe fortunes of Silicon Valley billionaires took a beating last year as share prices of the world’s tech giants plummeted. Photo: REUTERSMusk largely financed his buyout of Twitter by selling off shares in Tesla, putting the share price into an even steeper downward spiral. Photo: REUTERSThe share price in Meta Platforms Inc, Facebook’s parent company, fell off a cliff last year. However, his fortune remains heavily tied to the online retail giant’s share price, which fell by more than 49 percent last year. Alphabet’s share price has declined 39 percent since January last year, punished by declining online advertising revenues, and increased competition from Apple and Amazon.
Source:Taipei Times
December 31, 2022 18:02 UTC
Joe Biden signs bill that has provisions for loans to Taiwan
Joe Biden signs bill that has provisions for loans to TaiwanStaff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTONUS President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a US government funding bill for next year that includes provisions to authorize US$2 billion in loans to Taiwan to buy weapons from the US. Biden, who is on vacation, finalized the US$1.65 trillion Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act covering funding for fiscal 2023. US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday. In its provisions regarding Taiwan, the act allows up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan for military purposes under the “Foreign Military Financing Program.”Taiwan would be required to pay off such loans within 12 years. The NDAA was signed into law by Biden on Friday last week, but for its funding provisions to be carried out, they must still be approved in the general appropriations act.
Source:Taipei Times
December 31, 2022 10:41 UTC
KMT’s Lin Hsing-er faces election reversal in Taipei
KMT’s Lin Hsing-er faces election reversal in TaipeiBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterLin Hsing-er (林杏兒) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might be denied her post as a Taipei city councilor after the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday filed a civil case regarding the Nov. 26 election in Taipei’s first electoral district. Taipei City Councilor Lin Hsing-er speaks to reporters at the city council yesterday. Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei TimesThe prosecutors’ office is seeking to invalidate the votes for Lin. Lin is the KMT’s deputy spokeswoman. He is head of the KMT’s Changhua County Chapter and an executive member of the Taiwan Tourist Hotel Association.
Source:Taipei Times
December 31, 2022 02:47 UTC
Holiday spree
TSMC to begin 3nm mass productionTAINAN FAB: The firm in an unusual move is to hold a ceremony to launch mass production, which analysts said seeks to affirm its continued presence in Taiwan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Saturday said that it would hold a ceremony on Thursday to mark the beginning of mass production using its 3-nanometer process. The company is to mark the placing of the final beam at its Fab 18 in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan. It would also detail its plans for expanding 3-nanometer production at the facility in the coming years, TSMC said. The fab currently mass produces chips using the 5-nanometer process. It is unusual for TSMC to hold a ceremony to mark the beginning of commercial production of a new technology.
Source:Taipei Times
December 31, 2022 02:41 UTC
Developer disputes draft property act
Shin Ruenn Construction Co chairman Ben Huang poses for a photograph in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei Times“Shin Ruenn would stand by its construction schedule despite economic uncertainty and unfavorable legislation,” he said. The Taipei-based developer is due to recognize profit from joint ventures at two pre-sale projects, Good Life of Metro Heart I and II in Taoyuan’s Luzhu District (蘆竹), Shin Ruenn Development chairman Kuo Chang-geng (郭長庚) said. The projects near the Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line have sold out, and Shin Ruenn Development could divide a profit of NT$1.23 billion upon their completion next year, Kuo said. The developer has participated in the development of Fancy World in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and Sky Forest in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港).
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2022 10:35 UTC
TPP caucus weighs in on FTX fallout
Considering its effect on Taiwan, the TPP caucus yesterday held a news conference at the legislature to call for better financial literacy. Awareness of the risks of investing in the cryptocurrency market is insufficient among Taiwanese, TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said. Most Taiwanese affected by the FTX collapse were students and people with limited funds, TPP Legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) said, citing a local self-help association. This year’s Taiwan Financial Lives Survey by the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance showed a decline in financial resilience and literacy among young people compared with two years ago, she added. TPP Legislator Chen Wan-hui (陳琬惠) accused the Ministry of Digital Affairs of “doing nothing” in response to the FTX collapse, despite regulation of the digital economy falling under its purview.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2022 10:33 UTC
S Korea chip output falls most since financial crisis
S Korea chip output falls most since financial crisisBloombergSouth Korea’s semiconductor production last month fell by the highest rate since the global financial crisis, weighing on the nation’s industrial output and pointing to a further cooling of overseas demand for tech components as the world economy slows. Chip production shrank for a fourth straight month, falling 15 percent from a year earlier in the largest drop since 2009, data released yesterday by Statistics Korea showed. South Korea’s growth is already under pressure from falling exports and rising interest rates at home, with the gloomy outlook overseas adding to concerns. The cloudy outlook gives the Bank of Korea more reasons to be cautious as it mulls the end of its tightening cycle. The double-digit increases in inventories since October underscores a global oversupply of memory chips, a sector in which South Korea leads production.
Source:Taipei Times
December 30, 2022 02:02 UTC