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■ TAIEX ends higher
Share prices closed 1.43 percent higher yesterday, extending gains on continued foreign investor interest and supported by Wall Street's gains overnight, dealers said. They said that the local mar-ket, which has been a laggard, appears to be catching up with its regional peers, many of which are either in record territory or multi-year highs. The TAIEX added 95.22 points to close at the day's high of 6,760.82. Turnover was NT$115.07 billion (US$3.54 billion). "Major global markets staged an upswing; the local bourse just followed suit," said Alvin Teng (鄧可欣), an assistant vice president at SinoPac Securities Co (建華證券). Teng added that profit-taking was not particularly heavy, given the positive economic fundamentals and expectations for corporate sales last month.

■ COA launches tea drinking fair
The Council of Agriculture (COA) is launching a "tea drinking fair" nationwide to encourage people to have a taste of Taiwanese tea at one of the farms where it is cultivated. According to the COA, people interested in drinking this refreshing beverage can visit tea farms featuring a special flag raised for the occasion. The tea-drinking festivity will last until the end of June and will include free tea drinks at several government agencies, where Taiwan-grown tea will also be sold at attractive prices. In addition, tea will be served free of charge at 10 train stations around the country, so that Taiwanese tea can reach a larger number of lovers of the drink.

■ Changhua fruit get high praise
A fruit trading company in Shanghai announced yesterday that it has placed an order for 20,000kg of produce from farmers in Chang-hua, central Taiwan, claiming that fruit grown here is of superior quality. The fruit order consists principally of guava and starfruit. Lin Chih-hung (林志鴻), manager of the Shanghai-based Chi-Koo (吉谷) company that placed the order, said Taiwanese fruit consistently fetches a high price in Shanghai. Lin said Shanghai consumers aggressively demand Taiwanese starfruit and guava because they taste better than the fruit grown in China.

■ Wang tops cash dividend take
Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) Chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) and his brother, Vice Chairman Wang Yung-tsai (王永在), are expected to get a combined NT$8.5 billion (US$262 million) from cash dividends this year, the highest in Taiwan, the China Times reported, citing statistics from listed companies. Formosa Plastics Group's four petrochemical companies had a combined net profit of more than NT$170 billion last year and are expected to issue NT$120 billion worth of cash dividends this year, the Taipei-based Chinese-language newspaper said. Ranking second was High Tech Computer Corp's (宏達電子) Chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) and her husband Chen Wen-chi (陳文琦), who together will get nearly NT$3 billion in cash dividends this year.

■ NT dollar posts large gain
The New Taiwan dollar had the biggest gain in a month on speculation overseas investors were buying the nation's stocks. "Stock inflows have had a nice turn around and it's pretty positive for the Taiwan dollar," said David Mann, a currency strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Plc in Hong Kong. The NT dollar gained NT$0.143 to close at NT$32.329 against its US counterpart, the biggest advance since March 1, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$1.179 billion.

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