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Tai-Ex opening
The Tai-Ex opened down 157-points this morning from yesterday's close, at
15,891 on turnover of 5.7-billion N-T.
The market tumbled on Monday, falling to its lowest closing in almost a year
as market sentiment remains negatively affected over concerns the U-S Federal
Reserve (聯邦準備理事會) could introduce more rate hikes(升息).
The bellwether electronics sector continued its downward trend, led by
large-cap semiconductor stocks, while the financial sector, which had
appeared resilient (很有韌性) in recent sessions, saw sell-offs as investors
rushed to further downsize their portfolios (減少投資組合).
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says the government could begin easing face
mask mandates (放寬口罩禁令) in July, when it also hopes to lift at least
some border controls.
According to Chen, the current coronavirus wave is expected to peak (尖峰)
between May 20 and June 10, and the number of domestic coronavirus infections
is expected to be on the decline by July.
Chen says while the government is seeking to relax border controls, the
problem with lifting regulations now is not due to the spread of infections,
but instead because of the risk it could increase the burden (負擔) on the
island's hospital and healthcare systems.
The health minister also said that he hopes to slowly ease face mask mandates
for outdoor or open settings (空曠地方) from July, but the mandate will not
be fully lifted "quickly."
Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says Taiwan has been invited to attend an upcoming
global summit to discuss the coronavirus pandemic.
The Global COVID-19 Summit has been organized by the United States and is
slated to take place on May 12.
However, the foreign minister is refusing to say who will be representing
Taiwan at the event, saying only that the government will not be disclosing
(透露) that information in respect to the event's organizers.
The White House last month said this year's summit will be seeking to build
on efforts and commitments (承諾) made at the first summit last year.
turning to world news....
Doctors are reporting rare cases of virus patients who relapse (復發) after
completing a course of Pfizer's COVID-19 pill.
The AP's Jennifer King has more.
A Turkish diplomat says 8 Turkish citizens have been kidnapped in Haiti's
capital.
It appears to be the latest in a string of (一連串) high-profile kidnappings
by powerful gangs.
Turkey's diplomat says the group had boarded the bus in the neighboring
Dominican Republic and were kidnapped late Sunday afternoon in
Port-au-Prince.
He did not have any details on a potential ransom request (要求贖金), and no
additional information was immediately available.
The same gang kidnapped 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary (傳教士) group
in the same area last October.
The gang demanded $1 million US dollars in ransom and held most of them until
December.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister says a "crisis desk'' had been set up in
Haiti and that Turkey iss following the issue closely.