■ TAIEX sheds 58.49 points
Shares fell yesterday amid weakness of electronics and steel shares. The TAIEX fell 58.49 points, or 0.9 percent, to end at a session low of 6,458.03. Profit-taking contributed to much of the weakness in electronics stocks, which fell 1.3 percent on aggregate. High Tech Computer (宏達電), which makes high-end mobile phones, ended 4.2 percent lower at NT$862, after rising 5 percent in the past week. Part of the reason for the decline was disappointment over the company's dividend payout, traders said. Alan Tseng (曾炎裕), vice president at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券), said the profit-taking doesn't necessarily reflect shifting views on technology shares. He said the resilience of index heavyweights such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), which ended up 0.5 percent at NT$60.50, indicated foreign institutional investors may still be bullish on the technology sector.
■ China Steel profit plummets
China Steel Corp (中鋼) yesterday had the smallest quarterly profit in three-and-a-half years after it cut prices because of increased output in China. Net income declined 67 percent to NT$4.9 billion (US$151 million) for the fourth quarter from NT$14.7 billion a year earlier. The figures were derived by subtracting nine-month figures from full-year earnings announced by the company yesterday. Sales dropped 12 percent to NT$41.2 billion. For the whole of last year, the company reported a net profit of NT$50.65 billion, down from NT$51.62 billion in the previous year. Sales rose from NT$168.27 billion to NT$186.32 billion. Earnings per share fell from NT$5.26 to NT$4.83.
■ BenQ vows to limit losses
BenQ Corp (明基) chairman Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀) said that the company would reduce losses in the first quarter by selling more profitable handsets, six months after taking over Siemens AG's money-losing cellphone unit. It posted a worse-than-expected NT$6 billion (US$185 million) fourth-quarter loss on reorganization costs. Losses have since narrowed as new cellphones have received "very good acceptance," Lee said on Monday. Lee is focusing on mobile phones that can download music and games before competing in the mass market with Nokia Oyj and Motorola Inc. BenQ's average handset selling price will rise to more than 90 euros (US$110) this year, from about 70 euros at the end of last year, he said.
■ Innovation aid approved
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has approved subsidies totaling NT$59 million (US$1.8 million) to 25 technological development projects proposed by local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as an effort to upgrade industrial expertise, officials said yesterday. The enterprises will invest over NT$100 million of their own funds in the subsidized projects, the officials said. Since the ministry began a program in February 1999 aimed at encouraging SMEs to develop innovative technologies, the ministry has given the green light to private-sector applications for government subsidies on 1,697 technological development projects as of the end of last month. The government subsidies total NT$3.66 billion, with the incentive measure prompting concerned SMEs to invest an additional NT$7.75 billion on subsidized projects.
■ NT dollar inches down
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart on the Taipei foreign exchange market yesterday, declining NT$0.08 to close at NT$32.501. Turnover was US$987 million.
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