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■ Share prices close higher
Share prices closed 0.51 percent higher yesterday as bargain-hunting offset early weakness stemming from Wall Street's falls overnight amid fears about a sharp spike in US inflation, dealers said. Liquid crystal display (LCD) panel-makers made gains on hopes of a product price recovery next month, with bargain-hunting in electronics stocks extending to financial and some old-economy companies, they added. The TAIEX closed up 28.98 points at 5,721.99, on turnover of NT$63.64 billion (US$2.02 billion). Gainers led decliners 526 to 320, with 161 stocks unchanged.

■ Taiwan, Guatemala in FTA talks
Taiwan and Guatemala are scheduled to hold a second round of negotiations on signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Guatemala from next Monday to Friday, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday. A delegation of 16 officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Council of Agriculture and others will be led by vice minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆). The focus of the talks will include market access, the service sector, investment and regulation. Issues where a consensus has not been reached, such as rules of origin, unfair trade practice and dispute settlement, will be also discussed during the second round of negotiations. As the talks have gone well and are ahead of schedule, unsettled issues are likely to be solved during negotiations.

■ Intel to increase spending
Intel Corp's increase in its investment budget for semiconductors will help it close the gap with the industry's top spender, Samsung Electronics Co, this year, researcher IC Insights said. Intel, the world's largest maker of semiconductors, will increase chip spending by 46 percent to US$5.6 billion this year from US$3.8 billion last year, while Samsung will boost chip spending 20 percent to US$5.7 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (台積電) 14 percent rise in spending will help it overtake United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) as the industry's third-largest spender this year, IC Insights said. UMC's 40 percent drop in investments will lower its ranking to No. 5 this year. Hynix Semiconductor Inc, meanwhile will rise to No. 4 from ninth last year, IC Insights said.

■ Officials to draft triclosan bill
A draft bill on a national standard of products containing triclosan will be unveiled in August and put into practice next February, the Consumers Protection Committee announced yesterday. The announcement came after research in the US showed that the antibacterial chemical triclosan, widely used in toothpastes, deodorants, liquid hand soap and detergents, could increase the risk of cancer when combined with chlorine found in tap water. The committee said it has invited the Department of Health (DOH), and the Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection under the Ministry of the Economic Affairs (MOEA) to meet and come to a consensus. The DOH will provide professional views on a safe level for triclosan by the end of next month. The MOEA will then work out a draft bill on a national standard for products containing triclosan by the end of July.

■ NT falls against US dollar

The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, losing NT$0.028 to close at NT$31.541 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$900 million, down from US$954 million the previous day.

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