■ Shares close down
Shares closed 0.73 percent lower yesterday in line with a weaker Wall Street overnight after disappointing US data added to concerns about the overall US economic outlook, dealers said.
They said sentiment was also dampened by higher oil prices resulting from the growing stand-off between Iran and the West over its nuclear program and the detention of British military personnel.
The TAIEX lost 57.03 points at 7,788.14, on turnover of NT$104.37 billion (US$3.16 billion).
Decliners outnumbered gainers 685 to 420, with 201 stocks unchanged.
■ Veutron rebuts media reports
Veutron Corp (力廣科技), a memory module and scanner maker under the Powerchip Group (力晶集團), yesterday said chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) had not agreed to plead guilty to an insider trading charge.
Veutron's statement came after some Chinese-language media reported that Huang told investigators he illegally traded Veutron stocks, which the company said was untrue.
The company said it would take legal action against media for spreading incorrect information.
Shares of Veutron dropped by 6.8 percent, the daily limit, to NT$25.75.
■ Chunghwa forecasts sales drop
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation's largest phone operator, forecast sales could fall this year as government regulations force the company to cut tariffs.
Revenue this year "will be flat or slightly down because of government tariff cuts" imposed by regulators, Lu Shyue-ching (呂學錦), president of Taipei-based Chunghwa said yesterday after a news conference, without specifying figures. Chunghwa will disclose sales and profit forecasts for this year next month, Lu said.
Chunghwa plans to spend NT$130 billion over seven years laying fiber-optic cables to homes and offices to boost revenue from its internet and content businesses. Chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said in an interview in January that profit would decline again this year because of one-time expenses related to the company's reduction of its workforce.
■ Far Eastern to sell shares
Far Eastern International Bank (遠東商銀), a Taiwanese lender, said its board approved the sale of as much as NT$8 billion (US$242 million) in new shares in a private placement to strengthen its financial structure.
The shares can be sold either domestically or abroad as global depositary receipts or convertible bonds, the bank said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, without elaborating.
The bank on Feb. 16 said it was seeking a "strategic alliance" with a world-class financial company, and that it had held talks with Singapore's DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
Far Eastern is the nation's 18th-largest listed financial company by market value. It has 35 branches around Taiwan, according to its Web site.
■ Chipset maker signs Intel deal
Silicon Integrated Systems Corp (矽統科技), a Taiwanese maker of chipsets, said it has signed a long-term licensing agreement with Intel Corp.
Silicon Integrated received a license to make chipsets compatible with Intel's Core2 Quad Processors, the Hsinchu-based company said in a filing to the stock exchange yesterday. The company didn't provide details such as financial terms, citing confidentiality agreements.
■ NT dollar unchanged
The New Taiwan dollar remained unchanged against its US counterpart yesterday, closing at NT$33.07 on the Taipei Forex Inc on turnover of US$856 million.
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