■ Share prices up 1.14 percent
Local share prices closed 1.14 percent higher yesterday as investors cheered a fresh record close on Wall Street on Friday and continued picking up select stocks amid ample liquidity, dealers said.
They said there was rotational buying, with large-cap stocks leading the gains.
The weighted index closed up 85.80 points at 7,624.62, after moving in the 7,561.88 to 7,648.06 range, on turnover of NT$100.52 billion (US$3.0 billion).
■ Chi Mei to invest more in China
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Taiwan's leading thin film-transistor liquid-crystal-display (TFT-LCD) manufacturer, said yesterday it is planning to invest an additional US$31.2 million in China.
The company's board of directors has approved the expansion projects pending approval from the government, a company spokeswoman said.
"The new investments are largely aimed at capacity expansion in LCD module productions," the spokeswoman said.
The expansion projects call for an investment of US$30 million in a new facility in Chi Mei's LCD module manufacturing complex in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.
So far, Chi Mei has injected US$90 million into the Ningbo complex.
The company will invest another US$1.2 million in a backlight module component plant located in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.
Apart from the Ningbo base, Chi Mei is building another LCD module plant in Foshan, Guangdong Province, for US$30 million.
■ Taitung Bank gets `twR' rating
Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) revised its long-term credit rating on Taitung Business Bank (台東企銀) to "twR" from "twBB" following the Financial Supervisory Commission's decision to ask a task force of Central Deposit Insurance Corp (中央存保) to take full control of the debt-ridden bank on Friday, the ratings agency said yesterday.
An obligor rated `twR' means it is under regulatory supervision, owing to its financial condition. After the takeover, the regulator may have the power to favor one class of obligations over others or pay some obligations and not others, Taiwan Ratings explained.
At the end of July, the bank's net worth became negative and dropped to NT$1.1 billion in the red at the end of last month. Things could be far worse if potential credit losses were taken into consideration, it said.
Taitung Business shares will stop trading and be delisted from the Taiwan Stock Exchange today.
■ AIG denies buyout rumors
American International Group Inc (AIG) reportedly plans to acquire Kindom Construction Corp's (冠德建設) shopping center, Global Mall (環球購物中心), in Jhonghe (中和), Taipei County. The two sides, however, denied the buyout news yesterday. A report in the Chinese-language United Evening News yesterday said that the project had been sent to AIG's US headquarters for review.
It added that the rumored purchase price was quite high and can contribute to an earning per share of NT$3 for the construction firm, bringing its EPS next year to NT$4.5.
Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽), a local subsidiary of AIG, yesterday said it refused to comment on the market rumor.
Kindom Construction also denied the report in a filing to Taiwan Stock Exchange.
■ NT dollar drops
The New Taiwan dollar weakened against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.013 to close at NT$32.6. A total of US$623 million changed hands during the day's trading.
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