Taiwan Financial News

Elon Musk on Friday came out against banning TikTok in the United States, even if it would mean less competition for his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, as the initiative sees fresh bipartisan momentum in Congress.

JSW Steel, India's largest manufacturer of the alloy, has raised $900 million from a consortium of eight foreign banks to refinance debt maturing this month and pre-pay some high-cost borrowings. The loan was priced 180 basis points above the international secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) earlier this month, multiple people aware of the details said. One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point. Eight banks — Singapore's DBS Bank, France's BNP Paribas, UK-based HSBC and Standard Chartered, UAE's Mashreq Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank, Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) and Taiwan's CTBC Bank — are the joint underwriters for the loan.

Asian central banks’ need for assertive defense of their currencies is driving traders to turn less dovish on monetary policies in the region.

A gauge of global chip stocks and AI bellwether Nvidia Corp. have fallen together into a technical correction, showing moderation in the global equity market’s most conspicuous driver over the past year and a half.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday beat revenue and profit expectations in the first quarter, thanks to continued strong demand for advanced chips, particularly those used in AI applications.

Speaker Mike Johnson is forging ahead to pass a bill to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite threats from his right rump to topple him. He’s correct on the policy merits, and he deserves support from Members of both parties given what a potential Ukrainian defeat would mean for U.S. national security.

chips, is poised to get more than $6 billion in grants from the Commerce Department to help pay for domestic factory projects, part of an effort to bring semiconductor production back to American soil. The award, which isn’t yet finalized, could be announced as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. It’s not clear whether the company also plans to accept loans available through the 2022 Chips and Science Act in addition to the direct grant funding.

The U.S. 7th Fleet says a Navy P-8A Poseidon has flown through the Taiwan Strait

The rupee has fallen to a new low of 83.5 against the dollar. This has wide ramifications, making exports lucrative but imports expensive. Mint looks at why the currency is falling, how it impacts everybody and what can RBI do.

Fumio Kishida’s visit to the United States in April 2024 was a historical visit because the agreement indicated that Japan will take charge of a more wider security role in the East China Sea, Taiwan and the South China Sea as a trustworthy ally of the United States. Firstly, Japan and the United States are planning to make Tokyo to be main headquarters of military operation in this region. Currently, Japan has been planning to establish the integrated headquarters of its ground, maritime, and air Self-Defence-Forces in Tokyo by next March 2025. Along with it, during this Kishida’s US visit, the US decided to strengthen its headquarters in Tokyo to make seamless collaboration with the Japanese side. The rank of commander of the headquarter will rise from three star general to be four star general. The four-star general is at the same level with the current Indo-Pacific Commander in Hawaii. The strengthening of the seamless command chain of armed forces in Tokyo is very important step. Currently, China is provoking countries in the East China Sea, Taiwan and the South China Sea at the same time. For China’s strategy, these areas are one set. For example, if China wants to invade Taiwan, China should dominate the East China Sea and the South China Sea to isolate Taiwan. And government in Beijing can control all these areas under one integrated strategy.

ASML, the largest supplier of equipment to computer chip makers, reported weaker than expected first-quarter new bookings on Wednesday, although sales to China held up despite U.S.-led restrictions. Shares in Europe's biggest tech firm, which had risen 34% this year, were down 4.5% to 873.40 euros at 0741 GMT

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun held talks in nearly 18 months and discussed US-China defence relations and regional and global security issues, the Pentagon said. In the meeting held via videoconference on Tuesday, Austin stressed the importance of keeping military-to-military communication lines between the US and China open, it said. It is the first time since November 2022 that Austin has held talks with his Chinese counterpart when he spoke with the then defence minister of China Wei Fenghe in Cambodia. Dong was appointed China's Defence minister in December. China then named General Li Shangfu as its defence minister.

Lloyd Austin spoke with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun via video teleconference Tuesday, in the first substantive talks between the superpowers' defense chiefs in nearly 18 months. The United States has been working to strengthen defense cooperation with its allies in the Asia-Pacific region to counter China's growing influence but also wants to maintain lines of communication with Beijing to prevent tensions from spiraling out of control. «The two officials discussed US-PRC defense relations and regional and global security issues,» the Pentagon said in a statement, referring to the People's Republic of China.

Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as the world's most powerful central banker had a change of heart on U.S. rate cuts this year, pushing Treasury yields to new five-month highs and the dollar towering against other currencies. The beleaguered yen is plumbing fresh 34-year lows on an almost daily basis. It was last steady at 154.62 per dollar as the risk of government intervention loomed, although so far there has been no action from Tokyo apart from verbal warnings.

Apple contributed 65%, or about $10 billion, double the $5 billion of phone exports from India in FY23, when the US major became the first smartphone brand to achieve this feat. India’s fledgling mobile electronics manufacturing ecosystem has helped create more than 1.2 million jobs, while producing goods worth $50 billion, in FY24, show the data.

Asian shares have skidded following a slump on Wall Street after higher yields in the U.S. bond market cranked up pressure on stocks

profit on Thursday thanks to strong demand. The world's largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from a surge towards AI that has helped it weather the tapering off of pandemic-led electronics demand and pushed TSMC's stock to a record high.

India has showcased itself as a global leader, the top intelligence official from the US Department of Defense has told the Congress that in 2023, India took steps to modernise its military to compete with China and reduce its dependency on Russian origin-equipment. «During the past year, India has showcased itself as a global leader by hosting the Group of 20 economic summit and demonstrated a greater willingness to counter PRC (People's Republic of China) activity throughout the Indo-Pacific region,» Lt Gen Jeffrey Kruse, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency told members of the House Armed Services Committee — the subcommittee on intelligence and special operations during a Congressional hearing on defence intelligence countering China. India, he said, has advanced partnerships in the Indo-Pacific with regional South China Sea claimants, such as the Philippines, through training and defence sales and deepened cooperation with the US, Australia, France and Japan.

Volodymyr Zelensky urged allies on Monday to show the same «unity» towards Ukraine as Israel, which said it repelled an Iranian attack over the weekend with Western support. Ukraine has in recent months grown increasingly frustrated at delays in Western aid, including air defences it says are urgently needed to repel deadly Russian attacks.

stock gauges, led by banking and financial shares, slumped more than 1% each Monday on mounting concerns of an escalation in the West Asia conflict, while likely central bank intervention in the currency markets cushioned the rupee's fall, but couldn't prevent a record closing low for the unit. Benign inflation prospects on a lower-than-expected rise in oil prices kept bond yields steady. The Nifty fell 246.9 points, or 1.1%, to 22,272.50. The Sensex declined 845.12 points, or 1.14%, to 73,399.78 in a volatile trading session that saw mixed responses across the Asia-Pacific to this weekend's Iranian drone attacks on Israel. China advanced 1.26%, Hong Kong fell 0.73%, South Korea declined 0.42%, and Taiwan dropped 1.38%.

Amid heightened tensions between China and Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a former Taiwanese president who supports unification that the countries “belong” together.