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■ Funds did no wrong: FSC
The Financial Supervisory Commission denied that four major state-run funds were behind the stock market's slide on Monday, after opposition lawmakers accused the funds of having dumped shares.
The commission's spokesperson Susan Chang (張秀蓮) said at a press briefing yesterday that the government's four major state funds were net sellers on Monday morning as they sold NT$300 million (US$9.36 million) worth of stocks.
But the funds became net buyers in the afternoon by purchasing some NT$160 million worth of stocks, just before the benchmark index began to drop.
For the whole of Monday, the four major state funds net sold NT$130 million to NT$140 million in stocks, while the TAIEX slumped 244.37 points or 3.5 percent during the day.
Chang reiterated that the fundamentals of the stock market and the nation's economy remain good. ■ FTA talks wrap up
Taiwan, El Salvador and Honduras have concluded the first round of negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA), which is expected to be inked by the end of this year, according to a report by the Central News Agency which cited anonymous officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) led a delegation to El Salvador for talks at the end of last month. The negotiations went smoothly as the three parties reached agreement on almost all terms, the report said.
The second round of the FTA negotiations will begin in the middle of next month, with the rest to be completed by the end of the year, it said. ■ Tourist cash cow forecast
Chinese tourists will create business opportunities in Taiwan worth an estimated NT$30 billion (US$935.7 million) per year if travel restrictions on Chinese citizens are lifted, according to a report released yesterday by the Daiwa Securities SMBC-Cathay Co (國泰大和證券).
The firm's estimate includes spending on group tours and shopping, with the company predicting that the nation's travel agencies and hotels would benefit the most from an easing of restrictions.
It estimated that spending by each group of Chinese tourists could benefit the local economy, with each person spending between US$1,000 and US$1,200 each day of a 10-day tour.
If there were 540,000 Chinese tourist arrivals per year, spending on group tours would amount to US$540 million to US$650 million, or NT$17.3 billion to NT$20.8 billion, it said.
If each tourist spent NT$20,000 on shopping in Taiwan, the total amount would reach NT$10 billion per year, it added.

■ Chinatrust appoints president
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控), the nation's fourth-biggest financial services company by market value, said it named its chief risk officer Hsu Chien-chi (許建基) as president.
Hsu will take up the post from Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), who has been the acting president since October when then-president Eric Chen (陳聖德) resigned, according to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange sent late on Monday.

■ NT dollar declines
The New Taiwan dollar dropped against the greenback on foreign fund outflows and after comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open for another interest rate rise later this month, dealers said.
The NT dollar fell NT$0.013 to close at NT$32.062 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$798 million.

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