TAIEX ends higher
Shares closed 0.3 percent higher yesterday, as technical resistance put a lid on early gains driven by the strong showing of the New Taiwan dollar, dealers said.
The strength in the local currency during the morning session sparked hopes for capital inflows, they added.
The TAIEX closed up 24.67 points at 8,181.49, on turnover of NT$92.86 billion (US$2.81 billion).
Decliners outnumbered advancers 626 to 465, with 239 stocks unchanged.
On the local foreign exchange market, the NT dollar continued gaining ground against the US dollar, advancing to a two-month high.
The NT dollar rose NT$0.129 to close at NT$33.019, after the central bank expressed concern over its recent weakness.
Turnover was US$1.478 billion on the Taipei Forex Inc.
Chinatrust to offer travel service
Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), the nation's largest credit card issuer, yesterday announced plans to launch a travel Web site, Travel Family (www.travelfamily.com.tw), which is designed exclusively for its 5.7 million cardholders.
Working in cooperation with Cola Tours (可樂旅遊) and another 17 travel agencies, the bank said that the service, which would be launched on Friday, would be the first to offer travelers the option of paying only after they have boarded the plane to safeguard consumers' interests.
Travelers will have to swipe their credit cards first, but travel agencies will not be able to collect payments from the bank until the tour group has set off, said Michael Chang (張智銓), director of the bank's credit card division.
This is to avoid incidents like those seen in early February, when three local travel agencies unexpectedly closed down, embezzling tens of millions of NT dollars from more than 1,660 customers.
Chinatrust Commercial also plans to offer incentives including installment payments and bonus-point redemption to boost cardholder loyalty, expand its customer base and stimulate card consumption, the firm said.
SinoPac, AIG team up
SinoPac Holdings Co (永豐金控), the nation's ninth-biggest financial group, yesterday said it has teamed up with American International Group (AIG) to tap into the local pension management market.
The two parties inked a pact to officially inaugurate the strategic alliance following a year-long partnership talks, SinoPac said in a statement released yesterday.
The company estimated that pension reserves 1.3 times the amount of the nation's GDP would be required to cover 50 percent of income after retirement. Compared with current reserves of less than 10 percent of GDP, that indicates huge room for growth in the industry, it said.
The two parties will cooperate to develop products and start to launch and market innovative pension management packages in the second half of the year through Bank SinoPac's (永豐銀行) 129 branches nationwide, the company said.
THSRC adding more trains
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) officials announced yesterday the company will increase the number of north and south-bound trains from 25 to 31 daily beginning on Friday.
It will mark the second time that THSRC will be adding more trains to boost its passenger service. On March 31, it increased the number of trains going in each direction from 19 to 25 per day.
The officials said that the departure and arrival times in the train schedule will be changed on Friday. Passengers can access the new schedule on THSRC's Web site at www.thsrc.com.tw/tw/ticketing/timetable.asp.
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