TAIEX edges down
Shares closed 0.42 percent lower yesterday as China's decision to raise the stamp duty on stock transactions to dampen speculation outweighed Wall Street's overnight gains, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 34.15 points at 8,147.34, on turnover of NT$93.76 billion (US$2.84 billion).
Decliners outnumbered advancers 766 to 356, with 208 stocks unchanged.
Beyond Asset Management Co president Michael On said the stamp duty factor set the tone for regional markets.
"The Taipei stock market may not be able to immunize itself to the correction in China going forward, but it should be able to find its own way soon," On said.
Late tax return fines capped
The legislative Finance Committee yesterday approved amendments to the Income Tax Law (所得稅法) and the statute on commodity tax (貨物稅條例) to cap fines for late tax filings by businesses at NT$30,000 (US$910), instead of 10 percent of the tax due.
If businesses fail to pay the tax within 15 days of receiving a notice of late filing, they are subject to another fine, which will be capped at NT$90,000, instead of 20 percent of the tax due, the committee said.
Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和), director-general of the Taxation Agency, said the government collected around NT$400 million in fines from late tax returns each year.
Eighty-five percent of the fines were under NT$30,000, so the amendments were unlikely to have a big impact in tax revenues, Chang said.
Tecom, Vibo plan joint venture
Local telecoms equipment supplier Tecom Co (東訊電信) yesterday said it planned to pool a combined NT$1 billion to form a joint venture with Vibo Telecom Inc (威寶電信), the nation's latest third-generation (3G) mobile operator, eyeing the next-generation telecoms business.
The new company aims to get a WiMAX license to compete with more than 10 interested players in an auction scheduled for late next month at the earliest.
Tecom would own a 55 percent share of the telecoms venture and Vibo would own 45 percent.
Martin Currie to invest in Poya
Poya Living Mart (寶雅), a retailer that sells cosmetics, lingerie and stationery, has secured the support of Martin Currie, an investment management firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland, to participate in its private placement.
Martin Currie has agreed to invest NT$133 million (US$4 million) to purchase more than 7.4 million shares, each valued at NT$18, to control 11 percent of the local retailer, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday.
The fresh capital will be used to help Poya, which runs 30 stores nationwide, open 10 new outlets in second and third-tier cities to boost its market share from the current 34 percent to 43 percent, the firm's president Chen Tzong-cheng (陳宗成) said.
Central bank backs funds
The central bank yesterday advised the nation's investment and securities firms to sell more equity funds that invest in domestic shares to help boost the capital market.
Last year, Taiwan's institutional investors only had 10.5 percent of their portfolios invested in the domestic stock market, far lower than the 31 percent seen in US, UK, German, French and Japanese institutional investor portfolios in 2003, the bank said in a press statement.
"Taiwan's share prices are still in the low level, and institutional investors' holding of domestic shares is quite low," it said.
Between May 2004 and last month, 602 domestic listed firms reported an annual return rate of more than 10 percent on shares.
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