PERFORMANCE ANXIETY:One analyst said foreign investors have been a major driver of the Taiwan Stock Exchange and their movements would be watched this week

Taipei Times
Date: May 09, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

The TAIEX experienced a correction of nearly 3 percent last week, and foreign investors’ fund flows are likely to be key to the market’s performance this week, analysts said.

As the outlook for the international economy remained mixed and mainstream stocks on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) seemingly lost steam, the TAIEX shed 21.53 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 8,146.43 points on Friday.

For the whole of last week, the index dropped 2.76 percent from the previous week.

Selling last week largely came from foreign institutional investors who cashed in to move funds overseas, analysts said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-05
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang, Central News Agency

Taiwan-based smartphone brand HTC Corp. said Thursday that it has set up a company in preparation for development of new technology.

HTC made the comments after local media reported earlier in the day that the new company was set up at the end of last year for developing the virtual reality business. The report added that the smartphone vendor is planning to spin off the new company in the future.

HTC did not directly respond to these aspects of the report.

According to the report, after HTC unveiled its first VR headset — the HTC Vive — in early 2015, the company started to consider the possibility of setting up a new company for VR technology development and product marketing. After the establishment of the new VR company, supervised by HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang, at the end of last year, the report said, HTC is expected to spin off the new firm, which will be 100 percent controlled by Wang.

According to the business and industry inquiry services under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the new company has paid-in capital of NT$1 million (US$30,864) and Wang is its chairwoman. The government data shows that HTC founder Cho Ho-tu and Wang’s husband Chen Wen-chi are on the board of directors.     [FULL  STORY]

HANDOVER:Many are waiting for the May 20 change in government, which explains why 45.4 percent of respondents plan to buy homes in the second half, an analyst said

Taipei Times
Date: May 06, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Housing transactions might improve in the second half of this year, as 45.4 percent of Taiwanese plan to buy homes in the coming six months according to a recent poll, an increase of 10 percent from a year earlier, Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) said yesterday.

However, the survey found most respondents expect home prices to drop by 10 percent, with the global economy and government policies cited as the greatest downside risks, the company said.
“Buying interest picked up noticeably after the central bank on March 24 lifted mortgage restrictions on houses in Taipei and New Taipei City,” Taiwan Realty manager Jack Chou (周鶴鳴) told a news conference.

The central bank’s move suggested a shift to a neutral stance after a series of credit controls and unfavorable policies last year sent housing transactions to a record low since the bust of the technology bubble in 2001, Chou said.

The economic weakness in Taiwan and abroad merits measures to spur GDP growth and continued tightening would counter such efforts, Chou said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-04
By: Frances Huang, Central News Agency

Taipei, May 4 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan took another plunge Wednesday to close below the 8,200-point mark, with downward pressure rotating to the old economy and financial sectors, as investor confidence in the market prospects was hurt by massive foreign institutional selling a session earlier, dealers said. While the electronics sector faced a downturn, select heavyweights such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) appeared resilient, preventing the broader market from falling further, the dealers said.

Sentiment turned cautious ahead of a power transition from the outgoing Kuomintang to the incoming Democratic Progressive Party, as many investors were awaiting a speech to be made by President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (???) on May 20 inauguration day, which could impact cross-Taiwan Strait relations, they added.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended down 108.65 points, or 1.31 percent, at 8,185.47, after moving between 8,153.57 and 8,285.96, on turnover of NT$80.79 billion (US$2.50 billion).

The market opened down 0.14 percent on follow-through selling from a session earlier, as investors took cues from a falling Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.78 percent and the tech-heavy NASDAQ index ended down 1.13 percent overnight, the dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

TECHNOLOGIES:Chairman Leuh Fang said the firm is looking for new chips that can be produced at its 8-inch fabs, while power management ICs would provide high margins

Taipei Times
Date: May 05, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (VIS, 世界先進) yesterday raised its capital spending projection for this year by 38 percent to finance new technology development after reporting a strong quarterly growth in net profit last quarter.

Vanguard, which makes power management ICs and controller chips for LCD panels, said it would spend NT$1.8 billion (US$55.62 million) on new equipment and facilities this year, compared with a previous estimate of NT$1.3 billion.

“This is a medium and long-term investment. We are investing in new technologies to explore new chips that can be made on our 8-inch wafer factories in the next five years to 10 years,” Vanguard chairman and president Leuh Fang (方略) said.

Vanguard plans to arrange for an unspecified equity investment in an overseas company to collaboratively develop this new technology to make new-generation power management chips.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-03
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Lilian Wu, Central News Agency

Taipei, May 3 (CNA) Taiwan’s purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing activity edged lower in April, indicating continued weakness in the sector, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) said Tuesday.

The CIER, one of Taiwan’s leading think tanks, said its non-manufacturing index (NMI) also fell in April after a rebound in March.

The manufacturing sector’s PMI was 54.6 in April, down 0.3 points from a month earlier, while the NMI fell 1.7 points to 48.8.

Index readings above 50 indicate an expansion in manufacturing or non-manufacturing activity, while a figure of below 50 signals contraction.     [FULL  STORY]