Taipei Times
Date: Jun 05, 2016
By: Bloomberg

Asian stocks headed for a second week of gains as Japanese shares climbed for the first time in three days and investors awaited the monthly US government jobs report for clues on when the US central bank will raise borrowing costs.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.4 percent to 128.58 as of 4:19pm in Hong Kong, heading for its first week of back-to-back gains since mid-April. Australian and Philippine equities were among the biggest gainers in the region. Investors are also turning their focus on macroeconomic events this month, with the UK vote on whether to remain in the EU.

Stocks in the US rose to a seven-month high on optimism the US economy is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast employers added 160,000 jobs last month, the same as in April, with the unemployment rate slipping to 4.9 percent.

It has been a tumultuous year for investors in Asia-Pacific equities. The regional index began the year with a 14 percent slump through a February low on concern a devaluation of the yuan would curb global growth and amid prospects for a US rate increase. It then rallied almost 20 percent through this year’s peak in April before retreating again. The gauge was down 4.5 percent from its high for the year through Thursday.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-03
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Domestic gasoline and diesel prices may rise slightly or remain unchanged next week as international crude oil prices have bounced back from a drop earlier in the week, market sources said Friday.

Based on the crude oil price fluctuations, state-owned CPC Corp. Taiwan’s may retain its gasoline and diesel prices or raise them by NT$0.1 (US$0.003) per liter next week, the sources said.

CPC did not touch its gasoline prices this week, but cut diesel prices by NT$0.1 per liter.

The state-run company calculates its weekly fuel prices based on a weighted oil price formula that comprises 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude.

The weekly floating price formula showed that oil prices averaged US$46.61 per barrel as of June 2, up from US$46.46 the previous week, according to CPC’s website.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/03
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Taiwan and the European Union held a seminar on Friday to discuss the development of fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication technology, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The MOEA said that it invited officials from the European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (DG CONNECT) to attend the EU-Taiwan 5G workshop as part of bilateral efforts to push for the development of 5G technology.

The DG Connect is in charge of managing digital agenda under the EU.

The MOEA said that the EU has the Horizon 2020 in place under the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development to promote 5G development. Now the framework is in its eighth stage during the 2014-2020 period, which has attracted many countries to join the EU’s 5G development initiatives.     [FULL  STORY]

COOPERATION:Intelligent sleep mask developer Inteliclinic is just one of several foreign firms looking for Taiwanese manufacturers and investors at the Computex

Taipei Times
Date: Sat, Jun 04, 2016
By Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Foreign technology start-ups like Inteliclinic Inc and Embr Labs Inc are taking part in the Computex Taipei this year, looking for manufacturing partners and investors in Taiwan.

San Francisco-based Inteliclinic, with its wearable mask capable of analyzing and improving sleep quality, is seeking Taiwanese contract electronics and textile manufacturers as part of the firm’s plans to expand its reach to East Asian markets.

“We would like here [Taiwan] to be our window to Asia, given that Japan is one of our largest markets,” Inteliclinic cofounder and general manager Tomasz Kolodziejak told the Taipei Times at the company’s booth at the annual trade show.

Since raising US$500,000 from crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in 2014, Inteliclinic has grown into a small company with 20 employees over the past two years.     [FULL  STORY]

PRIORTIES:The government is planning amendments to counter tax evasion and establish taxation precedents on cross-border e-commerce activities, Sheu Yu-jer said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 03, 2016
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter

Minister of Finance (MOF) Sheu Yu-jer (許虞哲) yesterday told lawmakers that reassessing taxes on dividends is not among the government’s top priorities this year, and that no changes to the regime are to be implemented until next year.

Sheu made the remark during a question-and-answer session at the legislature during a meeting of the Finance Committee.

The comment came the day after Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Ding Kung-wha (丁克華) told the same committee that taxation is the purview of the Ministry of Finance.

“The ministry will begin assessing changes on dividend taxes and dividend-tax deductions in the second half,” Sheu said. “With public hearings on the matter scheduled to begin next month, it is not likely that changes will be implemented before the end of this year.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-01
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) The latest report on the state of the financial market by the local central bank hinted that the bank will lower its key interest rates again at the upcoming policymaking meeting scheduled for later this month, analysts said Wednesday.

“The local economy remains weak although the central bank has cut interest rates for the third consecutive quarter in its policymaking meeting held in late March,” MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang said.

“The latest financial report indicated that it is possible for the central bank to cut interest rates by 0.125 percentage points again later this month to give a boost to the local economy,” Tang said.

At the previous policymaking meeting, the central bank cut its interest rates by 0.125 percentage points for the third quarter in a row with the discount rate falling to 1.500 percent, the rate of accommodations with collateral to 1.875 percent and the rate of accommodations without collateral to 3.750 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 21:50:58
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) Yuanta Securities Investment Trust Co. (元大投信), a subsidiary of Yuanta Financial Holding Co. (元大金控), is seeking to issue exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track U.S. dollar futures, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

The TWSE, which operates the local main board, said Wednesday that Yuanta has applied for recognition of the S&P U.S. Dollar Futures Index (ER), the S&P U.S. Dollar Futures 1x Inverse Daily Index (ER), and the S&P U.S. Dollar Futures 2x Leverage Daily Index (ER).

Once the three indexes are recognized by the TWSE, Yuanta is expected to take next step, issuing ETFs that track the three indexes.

Yuanta’s application is the eighth submitted so far this year by local securities investment trusts or asset management firms to gain recognition of foreign indexes, in preparation for the issuance of more ETFs in Taiwan, as the local ETF market becomes more popular among investors, the TWSE said.     [FULL  STORY]

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION:The PMI published by London-based Markit said the sector was worsening as the index fell again last month to 48.5 from April’s 49.7

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 02, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) last month climbed for a third consecutive month to 54.9, another encouraging sign that the nation’s manufacturing sector is stabilizing, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.

The PMI inched up 0.3 percentage points last month from 54.6 in April, continuing to stay above the threshold of 50 in a sign of expansion, the Taipei-based institute’s statistics showed.

“The uptrend over the past three months gives us stronger confidence that the manufacturing sector is stabilizing,” CIER president Wu Chung-shu (吳中書) told reporters at a news conference.

Employment was a main driver of last month’s PMI growth, with a solid gain of 4.1 percentage points to 54.1, Wu said.

Among key sub-indicators, new orders and imports increased 0.6 and 2.8 to 58 and 54.5 respectively, marking a third month of expansion for both, the data showed.     [FULL  STORY]