■ Shares rise slightly
Share prices closed up 0.24 percent yesterday but were off intraday highs as profit-taking towards the finish trimmed early gains led by Wall Street's overnight upturn, dealers said.
They said key technology stocks fell back as investors took profits amid concerns the industry's traditionally stronger second half may face some headwinds from high inventories.
The TAIEX rose 16.01 points at 6,734.51, extending gains for a third day after trading between 6,722.39 and 6,789.55, on turnover of NT$90.61 billion (US$2.8 billion).
■ Shin Kong buys into MasterLink
Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), Taiwan's eighth-biggest financial services provider by assets, will acquire a 16 percent stake in MasterLink Securities Corp (元富證券) on the open market within the next 12 months, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The firm expected to spend about NT$3 billion on the long-term investment, it said.
The strategic alliance will be formed in an attempt to raise the profitability of the insurance-centric Shin Kong Financial, the company said.
Besides flagship unit Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), the financial group controls subsidiaries including Shin Kong Securities Co (新壽證券) and Shin Kong Bank (新光銀行).
■ Foreign investment up
Foreign investment approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs amounted to US$6.85 billion in the first six months of the year, up 582.35 percent over last year's level, officials said yesterday.
The amount was US$3.08 billion after excluding the transfer of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) shares worth US$3.77 billion from Royal Philips Electronics' Taiwan branch to its parent firm in the Netherlands. The amount following the deduction represents an increase of 195.69 percent compared with a year earlier, according to the officials.
The government aims to attract foreign investment worth a total of US$8 billion this year, according to the official.
■ BenQ axes German staff
Less than a year after taking over Siemens AG's unprofitable mobile-phone business, BenQ Corp (明基) said that it would cut as many as 330 jobs in Germany as it struggles to rein in costs and entice consumers with its handsets.
The planned cuts are equivalent to about 10 percent of the German workforce of 3,300, said BenQ spokesman Stefan Mueller by telephone on Monday.
BenQ has now started negotiations with the labor council's representatives and plans to unveil exact numbers and the location of job cuts later this month, he said.
To save costs, BenQ has already closed a factory in Ulm, southern Germany, and sold a research center in Denmark to Motorola.
■ Hanjin renews Kaohsiung lease
South Korea's largest shipping line Hanjin Shipping has agreed to renew its lease of a container terminal at the Kaohsiung Harbor for another 10 years, it was reported yesterday.
The Chinese-language Economic Daily News quoted a Ministry of Transportation and Communications official as saying that Hanjin has agreed to renew its lease of the No 78 Container Terminal at Kaohsiung Harbor for nine years and nine months.
The new lease will be signed on Friday.
■ NT gains on greenback
The New Taiwan dollar continued gaining ground against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.062 to close at NT$32.248 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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