Share prices plunge
Share prices fell sharply yesterday, losing 1.64 percent after further losses on Wall Street overnight sparked a regional slide on sustained concerns over the outlook for inflation and interest rates, dealers said.
They said this, combined with prevailing political tensions made for a difficult day.
The TAIEX closed down 105.69 points at 6,337.21, on turnover of NT$77.71 billion (US$2.38 billion).
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電) fell NT$1.30 to NT$56.20, and peer United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) dropped NT$0.85 to NT$18.25.
MOF checking towel prices
The Ministry of Finance yesterday said it has sent representatives to check Chinese towel makers' prices before it finalizes antidumping investigations. The inspection efforts have been endorsed by the WTO and the representatives are scheduled to return home next Thursday.
The government started slapping provisional duties of between 107.3 percent and 237.7 percent on top of an existing tariff of 10.5 percent on Chinese towel imports on June 1.
This is the first antidumping action against Chinese imports since Taiwan acceded to the WTO in 2002.
With the assistance of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the finance ministry is allowed 110 days from June 1 to re-confirm its antidumping action before it has to announce its final anti-dumping duty rate, which means the final announcement is expected in late September or early October.
Q3 employment prospects good
The nation's employers forecast positive hiring intentions for the period July to September this year with 36 percent of the 1,239 companies interviewed expecting stronger staffing needs, according to a report released by Manpower Services (Taiwan) Co yesterday. In contrast, 13 percent reported a decrease in hiring activity in the third quarter and 30 percent expected no change.
This resulted in a "net employment outlook" figure -- which is calculated by subtracting the number of employers planning to reduce staffing levels from the number planning to hire staff -- of 23 percent, down by 8 percentage points from the second quarter.
Employers in the finance, insurance and real estate markets reported the largest decline (12 percentage points) in the outlook figure.
The company said it might be the result of consumer finance deflation, caused by rising consumer debts in credit and cash-advance card business that have prompted banking institutions to adopt a conservative approach in corporate expansion.
ITRI unveils super vacuumer
The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) unveiled its new "super-quiet" robotic vacuum cleaner yesterday, which operates at a sound level of 56 decibels -- 10 decibels lower than existing models.
An ITRI official said the compact cleaner, which weighs about 3.5kg, can automatically clean the house in various movement patterns -- spiral, zigzag, random and against-the-wall.
If the cleaner detects low power conditions, it will switch to "charging mode" -- in which it will move along the walls only to find its charger. Once power is restored, it will restart the "cleaning mode," he said.
NT dollar falls again
The New Taiwan dollar traded lower against its US counterpart on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.117 to close at NT$32.660.
A total of US$1.129 billion changed hands during the day's trading.
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