‘REMARKABLE’: Most Asian markets rose after US President Donald Trump soothed worries about military action in Syria and ordered aides to explore rejoining the TPP

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 15, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA and AFP

Local shares on Friday closed higher at 10,965.39, setting them up to tackle the 11,000-point threshold next week, analysts said.

The TAIEX on Friday closed up 10.1 points, or 0.09 percent, on turnover of NT$121.99 billion (US$4.16 billion). That was an increase of 1.3 percent from a close of 10,821.53 on April 3, the last day of trading before the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.

The index immediately traded higher after the bourse opened, and fluctuated between a high of 10,988.23 and a low of 10,938.37 throughout the day.

The main force behind the uptick came from stocks in the optoelectronics sector, which rose by 2.37 percent, the electrical and cable sector, which rose 0.71 percent, and the semiconductor sector’s 0.29 percent increase.    [FULL  STORY]

THE RIGHT DIRECTION: The FSC said that the extension should encourage more businesses to go public and trade on the exchange, which would boost tax revenue

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 14, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Legislature yesterday passed an amendment to the Securities Transaction Tax Act (證券交易稅條例) that extends the duration of a previously implemented tax cut on day trading transactions until the end of 2021.

The amendment extends a one-year cut in the transaction tax for day trading from 0.003 percent to 0.0015 percent, which was implemented in April last year, by three years and eight months, with the tax cut now scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2021.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗), who previously served as chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), proposed the extension earlier this year.

Tseng, who in his capacity as FSC chairman, relaxed trading rules in 2014 to permit day trading, whereby traders can buy first and sell later or sell first and buy later in a single session, is a firm supporter of the practice.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-04-12

The head of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Walter Yeh, leads a group of senior managers from the technology sector to promote the upcoming Computex 2018. Taipei’s computer and tech expo is the largest in Asia.

Walter Yeh, the head of Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), stands alongside senior officials from Taiwan Computer Association, Asus, Intel Taiwan, Nvidia and Amazon Taiwan to promote the upcoming 2018 Computex. It is the biggest international computer and peripheral technology exhibition and is scheduled to kick off in Taipei on June 5.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/12
By: Y.F. Low

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Taiwan shares closed down 18.73 points, or 0.17 percent, at 10,955.29 Thursday on turnover of NT$109.08 billion (US$3.73 billion).     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 13, 2018
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies camera lenses for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday reported that net income last quarter fell 18 percent annually to NT$4.02 billion (US$137.39 million), as aggregate sales in the first quarter dropped 18 percent annually to NT$8.88 billion.

Largan’s earnings per share were NT$29.96 in the first quarter, making the January-to-March period the firm’s poorest showing of the past seven quarters.

Gross margin fell from 70.94 percent for the same period a year earlier to 63.33 percent, its lowest of the past eight quarters, while operating margin dropped from 61.87 percent to 52.82 percent.

Largan chief executive officer Adam Lin (林恩平) attributed last quarter’s poor performance not only to its weaker top-line numbers, but also to a dip in the production yield rate as the company took on new customer designs.    [FULL  STORY]