REGROUPED:With effects of Brexit and the terror attacks in France fading, foreign institutional investors have been moving their funds into Asia, an analyst said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA
Shares in Taiwan yesterday closed above the 9,000-point mark, the first time in almost a year the weighted index ended above that level, with foreign institutional investors holding a large chunk of long-position contracts in the futures market, dealers said.

Apple concept stocks continued to move ahead, led by smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光), while rotational interest focused on select old-economy stocks and certain financial issues, which pushed up the boarder market even higher at the close, the dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) closed up 58.36 points, or 0.65 percent, at the day’s high of 9,008.21, on turnover of NT$92.67 billion (US$2.89 billion).

It was the first time the index ended above the 9,000-point level since July 21 last year, when the TAIEX closed at 9,005.96.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-17
By: Central News Agency

Despite calls to promote tourism on Taiping Island following a controversial arbitration ruling on South China Sea disputes, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) was reluctant to back the idea on Sunday, saying it offered little economic benefit.

Citing the results of previous assessments, the CAA said the Taiwan-controlled island, located 1,600 kilometers south of Kaohsiung, must first have an airport capable of accommodating mid-sized single-aisle passenger planes such as B737-800s, A320s, A321s, or MD82s.

The airport runway on Taiping Island is only 1,200 meters long, meaning only smaller 19-seat Fairchild-Dornier 328s or 72-seat ATR72s can land there, but the 1,600-km distance is beyond the flight ranges of those aircraft.     [FULL  STORY]

JOLLY PROSPECTS:The Christmas season is expected to improve the shipments of Everlight’s backlight units and LED flashes to the European and US markets

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 18, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Everlight Electronics Co (億光) and Epistar Corp (晶電) are expected to perform better in the second half of this year, driven by improving demand for LED lighting products and infrared applications, analysts said.

“We estimate Everlight will see 10 percent annual growth in revenue in the second half of this year, as all of its product lines are seeing better demand from a year ago,” Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Derrick Yang (楊泓極) said in a note on Wednesday last week.

Yang’s forecast came after Everlight, the nation’s leading LED chip packager and lighting products provider, reported annual growth of 1.13 percent in its second-quarter revenue to NT$7.13 billion (US$222.88 million).

On a quarterly basis, revenue climbed 2.58 percent from the previous quarter’s NT$6.96 billion, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 18, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Land prices in Taipei posted an annual decline of 1.52 percent, the largest among all the cities and counties in Taiwan, according to the latest urban land price index issued on Friday, July 15 by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI).

The national urban land price index for the 46th compilation (the six-month period from Oct. 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016) stood at 119.33, edging up only 0.04 percent from a year earlier. The growth rate paled against a growth rate of 1.49 percent recorded for the 45th compilation (the six-month period from April 1 to Sept. 30, 2015) and 2.14 percent released during the 44th compilation.

Of all the cities and counties, outlying Penghu County recorded the highest land price growth of 3.22 percent in the latest compilation period, making it the only county to enjoy growth of over 3 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 17, 2016
By: Bloomberg

Asian markets headed for their biggest weekly advance in three months as data suggested China’s economy is responding to government support.

Taiwan became the latest regional bourse to enter a bull market. The TAIEX rose 0.94 percent to 8,949.85, up from 8,640.91 on Thursday last week and closing more than 20 percent above its low in August last year, as global investors pumped cash into equities, drawn by upbeat earnings and high company dividends. Taiwanese markets were closed on Friday last week due to Typhoon Nepertak.

Thailand, India and Indonesia have also recently entered bull markets.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for a fifth day, adding 0.4 percent to 133.84 as of 4pm in Hong Kong. That took its weekly gain to 4.4 percent, the most since April 15.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 17, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Taiwan is expected to report a year-on-year decline in export orders for June despite signs of that orders placed to Taiwanese electronics makers have started to pick up again, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday.

The expected decline in June largely reflects a relatively high comparison base of US$36.6 billion seen in the same month last year and would be the 15th consecutive month in which export orders fall, the longest sustained slump in Taiwan’s history, the MOEA said.

The previous record was 12 consecutive months of declines in orders during 2008 and 2009, when a financial crisis hit the global economy.

In May, Taiwan’s export orders fell 5.8 percent from a year earlier to US$33.73 billion due to a fall in Taiwan’s major outbound sales categories, including information/communication devices, electronics and precision equipment, base metal, petrochemical and machinery products, amid weak global demand.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-16
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Taiwan was the 10th largest steel supplier to the United States in 2015, accounting for about 4 percent of total U.S steel imports, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Citing the data, the MOEA said Taiwan had US$1.05 billion in steel sales to the U.S. in 2015, down 6.3 percent from a year earlier. The total accounted for 4.0 percent of America’s total steel imports.

The leading foreign supplier of steel to the U.S. in 2015 was Canada, exporting US$4.35 billion in steel products to its southern neighbor for a 16.6 percent share of U.S. imports.     [FULL  STORY]