Thursday, September 29, 2005

Samsung makes big investment in semi-conductors

by Brian Turner

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics announced on Thursday that it will spend $33 billion in the next 7 years on a new research center and production lines in an attempt to meet higher demand for semiconductors.
The plan comes at a time when Samsung’s non-semiconductor business are seeing prices fall, and the company is looking to [...]

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Samsung rapped for hindering investigation

by Brian Turner

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission levied a fine of Won60 million on Samsung Electronics on Tuesday for “systematically hindering” an investigation into the electronics giant’s unfair contracting practices.
The investigation began as an inquiry into accusations of subcontracting irregularities between Samsung and its semiconductor-manufacturing subsidiary, Semes. According to the FTC, however, last November [...]

Friday, September 16, 2005

Tokyo equity markets mixed

by Brian Turner

Tokyo’s equities markets were mixed on Friday on profit-taking and declines in the technology, information and communication, and real estate sectors.
The Nikkei 225 lost 0.2 percent to 12,958.68, while the Topix index gained just 0.1 percent to 1,328.84.
Liquid crystal display makers had a tough day of it after South Korean company [...]

Thursday, September 15, 2005

South Korea and Taiwan equity markets seek status upgrade

by Brian Turner

The FTSE said on Wednesday that South Korea and Taiwan will not be upgraded to developed market status until at least 2007. This is not expected to have much impact on the two nations’ equities markets, it will delay the time when longer-term redistribution of some global fund flows could begin.
The upgrade [...]

Monday, September 12, 2005

Elections encourage investors in Tokyo

by Brian Turner

The Tokyo equities markets were up substantially on the landslide election victory Sunday of Prime Minister Junichiro Kozumi’s Liberal Democratic party, as foreign investors seemed particularly enthusiastic in the post-election buying.
Upward revision of second-quarter gross domestic product figures also helped the markets to their gains. GDP growth was put at 0.8 percent [...]

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

East asia stock markets see gains

by Brian Turner

In Asian equities markets, South Korea, Shanghai, and Bangkok all saw gains on the day.
South Korea’s composite index was up 1.8 percent to 1,142.99, an all-time closing high, on a volume of 407.5 million shares traded and with exporters leading the way.
Shanghai’s composite index also gained 1.8 percent, to 1,194.31 on [...]

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Profit-taking hits Tokyo export equities

by Brian Turner

Profit-taking hit both export-dependent and domestically oriented stocks in Tokyo on Tuesday to send the Nikkei 225 down by 0.3 percent to 12,599.43 even though it passed 12,700 for the first time in four years at one point during the day. The Topix index was also down on the day, by 0.3 percent to [...]