Business Briefs

■ TAIEX edges down
Shares closed 0.65 percent lower yesterday as caution gripped the market following Wall Street's second consecutive overnight fall and ahead of today's elections, dealers said.
The polls in Taiwan's main cities are seen as a vote of confidence on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who has been dogged by corruption allegations for much of this year.
The TAIEX shed 50.22 points at 7,636.30, on turnover of NT$105.63 billion (US$3.26 billion).
Declines led gains 655 to 540, with 216 stocks unchanged.
For the week to yesterday the weighted index closed up 22.73 points or 0.30 percent after a 2.51 percent gain the previous week.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$120.80 billion, compared with NT$124.77 billion.

■ Nokia-Siemens plan approved
The Fair Trade Commission said yesterday that it approved the application of Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG to combine their telecommunications network equipment units in accordance with Article 12 of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
The new joint venture, which will be called Nokia Siemens Networks, aims at closing the gap with market leader Ericsson AB and reduce costs for research and development, personnel and purchasing.
It is expected to post annual sales of about 15.8 billion euros (US$19.9 billion), according to reports in June.
"The merger is not capable of stripping other companies of the opportunity to enter the market, and the industry remains competitive... Therefore, the commission does not forbid their merger application," the commission said in a statement.

■ Post office to handle lotto prizes
Starting next year, locations for cashing winning unified invoice lottery slips will be limited to post offices nationwide as state-run Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政公司) will become the sole government unit in charge of the business every two months, the Taipei National Tax Administration said.
Currently, consumers can bring their winning invoices to the Central Trust of China (中央信託局), Cota Commercial Bank (三信銀行) and post offices to cash prizes.
The administration reminded consumers that the lottery draw for November-December invoices will be held on Jan. 25 next year and said that winners can still go to Central Trust of China or Cota Commercial until May 5.
Invoices issued after Jan. 1 can only be cashed at post offices, it added.

■ More Japanese expected to visit
The number of Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan during the New Year holidays beginning Dec. 23 is expected to increase by 5 percent, JTB Corp estimated yesterday.
More than 648,000 Japanese people are expected to make leisure trips overseas during the Dec. 23 to Jan. 3 New Year holidays, marking an increase of 3.2 percent over the year-earlier level, said officials from the JTB -- Japan's major tourist and travel agencies association.
Of that total, 5 percent, or 42,000 people, are expected to head to Taiwan for their holidays, according to a JTB survey.
Some 29.4 million Japanese citizens said they would make leisure trips in Japan during the New Year holidays.

■ NT dollar sheds NT$0.09
The New Taiwan dollar traded lower against its US counterpart yesterday, mainly on short-covering in the greenback in the non-deliverable forwards market, ahead of US non-farm payrolls data due later in the day, traders said.
The NT dollar declined NT$0.09 to close at NT$32.39 on the Taipei Forex Inc, with turnover of US$1.003 billion.