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■ TAIEX rises despite US decline
Shares ended slightly higher yesterday, as overnight losses in the US offset the positive impact of solid March revenue figures from local companies, analysts said. The TAIEX closed up 11.20 points, or 0.2 percent, at 6646.74. Turnover fell to NT$99.39 billion (US$3.01 billion) from Tuesday's NT$160.84 billion (US$4.84 billion). Decliners outnumbered advancers 476 to 317, with 182 stocks unchanged. "Market sentiment turned cautious after the modest pullback on NASDAQ and following the recent rally in local shares," said Hsiuli Lee, a manager at Franklin Templeton First Taiwan. Looking ahead, analysts said the index will likely consolidate between 6500 and 6800 points this week before possibly starting a fresh rally. The technology subindex rose slightly, gaining 0.1 percent, with solid March revenue results from local tech firms supporting the sector. Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) was down 0.8 percent at NT$61.50, while United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) fell 0.9 percent to NT$31.60, following the overnight decline on NASDAQ.

■ UMC sales rise to NT$9 billion
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world's second largest contract chipmaker, saw a 27.63 percent year-on-year rise in last month's sales, the company said yesterday. March sales came in at NT$9.01 billion (US$273.03 million), up 12.19 percent from the NT$8.03 billion posted for February. Sales in the March quarter rose to NT$25.33 billion from NT$17.9 billion previously. At a Feb. 4 investor conference, UMC vice chairman Peter Chang (張崇德) said wafer shipments in the three months to March were seen flat from the previous quarter, while capacity utilization is expected to rise to 100 percent from 96 percent after factoring in fab maintenance.

■ Cost of electricity to climb?
Vice Economics Minister Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) told lawmakers yesterday that the ministry will review electricity prices in two weeks in the face of rising international crude oil and coal prices. As the recent hike in international oil and coal prices has resulted in an increase of the cost of electricity generation, Chen said that the ministry will have a total review on the price of electricity and the impact a price adjustment will have on the local economy and industry.

■ China Steel to raise prices
China Steel Corp (中鋼) said it will increase export prices by one-fifth on average in the three months ending July 31 because of higher raw material and transportation costs. The company plans to raise hot-rolled steel prices by US$140 a ton to US$500 for Southeast Asian customers, and by US$135 for Chinese buyers. China Steel, which reviews prices at the end of each quarter, said the increase is a weighted average of the change in prices across different products. The outlook for the second half of this year is still optimistic though any further price increases may be smaller, the company said. China Steel also plans to increase cold-rolled steel sheet prices by US$100 a ton for its customers in China and Southeast Asia for the May-July period. The steelmaker sold 10 million tons of steel in each of the last two years.

■ NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday turned strong against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.066 to close at NT$32.924 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$642 million.

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