Energized by the strong uptake of smartphones and tablet PCs, Taiwan's number two contract chip-maker UMC has spent US$110 million in Singapore to spearhead the company's R&D and manufacturing for advanced specialty process technologies.

Shares in Taiwan closed slightly higher Wednesday as investors locked in gains they posted earlier in the session before U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress, dealers said.

The Development Bank of Singapore Limited (DBS, 星展銀行) yesterday indicated its wish to continue the company's extensive efforts in serving the needs of Taiwan's small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), during a recent press luncheon.

Shares of Hermes Microvision Inc., one of Taiwan's leading semiconductor inspection tool and equipment suppliers, extended their gains Wednesday morning as they played catch-up with shares of Largan Precision Co., dealers said.

Taiwan's jobless rate fell 0.1 percentage points in April from a month earlier to 4.07 percent, the lowest level since July 2008 when unemployment stood at 4.06 percent, the government said Wednesday.

The U.S. dollar rose against the New Taiwan dollar Wednesday, gaining NT$0.018 to close at NT$29.960, as the greenback recouped early losses on the back of local central bank intervention, dealers said.

The production value of Taiwan's petrochemical sector for the first quarter of this year fell about 8 percent from a year earlier as a result of falling product prices on weaker global demand, according to a government report released yesterday.

Bayer Material Science, a unit of the Bayer Group, said Taiwan's well-established electronics industry has provided much inspiration that the polymer company needs to develop materials that enhance the efficiency of consumer electronics.

French engineering company Schneider Electronic SA expressed optimism Wednesday about the outlook for Taiwan's data center sector thanks to rising demand for cloud computing-based applications.

Many flat panel module makers which specifically target North American markets are apparently pulling in orders as mobile phone panel supply remains tight this month, while the prices of flat panels for most other applications are expected to be stable in May.