TSMC Earnings Could Provide Boost To Taiwanese Assets

Taiwan dollar is stronger today, USD/TWD last down 0.013 at 27.991 after dropping back below the 28.00 handle during yesterday's session.

• Markets await earnings results from TSMC today, consensus is for another bumper quarter with Q2 net profits to TWD 136.2bn. The release will be dissected for clues as to how the company plans to handle the global semi-conductor shortage and any expansion plans. The guidance will be especially interesting after reports yesterday that Apple could increase iPhone production by 20% in 2021.
• On the coronavirus front there were reports that the government won't approve further plans to purchase BioNTech vaccines on case-by-case basis and that the current 15 million doses already in the pipeline for Taiwan are sufficient for the rest of the year. Taiwan's FDA announced yesterday that 626k doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in a Thai plant have passed a series of tests and been given a lot release certificate, this is the first batch of vaccines shipped from Thailand to Taiwan. Yesterday Taiwan recorded 27 new cases of COVID-19 and six deaths from the disease, and announced that adult daycare centers are now allowed to reopen as long as certain COVID-19 prevention measures are taken.