EZ News 03/19/24

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened down 81-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 19,798 on turnover of 6.7-billion N-T. The market staged a technical rebound on Monday to close the trading day up 197-points on the back of investor interest in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing - which returned to its prior ex-dividend level shortly after the market opened. TSMC to Build Advanced IC Packaging Plants in Chiayi Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan has announced that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing will build two advanced I-C packaging plants in Chiayi County. According to the Vice Premier, T-S-M-C's first -IC packaging plant using the sophisticated Chip on Wafer on Substrate technology in Chiayi is scheduled to break ground in May. Construction of the first Chiayi plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 with mass production scheduled to begin in 2028. T-S-M-C says the Chiayi investments seek to meet strong growing market demand for sophisticated (精密的，複雜的) I-C packaging services for chips related to artificial intelligence applications. Lawmakers Establish Czech Republic and Austria Parliamentary Friendship Group Lawmakers from across party lines have established a new parliamentary friendship group for the Czech Republic and Austria. The group is a reorganization of the parliamentary friendship group for Czechia, which was established during the previous (以前的) Legislature. The newly formed group covering the two European countries is headed K-M-T lawmaker Wan Mei-ling and includes 11 other lawmakers as vice-chairs - who come from the K-M-T, the D-P-P and the Taiwan People's Party. According to Wan, some 50 members of the Legislature have so far joined the group, and more expected to join in the coming weeks. Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chong-guang is thanking lawmakers for their efforts to promote friendship with their foreign counterparts - saying friendship group could help his office boost practical collaborations and interactions with the two countries. Bank of Japan to Announce End of Negative Rates The Bank of Japan is widely expected to end negative interest rates when a two day policy meeting concludes today. Analysts believe record wage hikes recently announced by large companies have created the conditions the bank needs to begin phasing out (逐步廢除) quantitive easing. Chris Gilbert reports from Japan. UK Banksy Unveils New Artwork A new Banksy mural has drawn crowds to a London street. The artwork in the Finsbury Park neighborhood covers the wall of a four-story building and shows a small figure holding a pressure hose beside a large cherry tree. Banksy claimed the work by posting before and after photos on his official Instagram account. The new attraction drew on Monday a stream of onlookers (圍觀者) who took photos and snapped selfies. Many discerned an environmental message in the vibrant green artwork, which appeared on St. Patrick’s Day. That was the I.C.R.T. news, Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded every day in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn