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Cross-strait row hurts bourse
Shares fell yesterday as retail investors sold China-related issues. The TAIEX lost 56.98 points, or 0.63 percent, to close at 8,922.98 on the weak volume of NT$135.04 billion (US$4.09 billion).
Investors were rattled yesterday by Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store's (新光三越) row with its Chinese partner in Beijing, said Derek Lam of Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券).
"People are worried about the potential risks of doing business in China if a big company such as Shin Kong Group has run into trouble there," Lam said.
China-related shares suffered relatively sharp falls compared to the benchmark index.
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) dropped 2.5 percent to close at NT$37.55. Taiwan Cement Corp (台泥) lost 3 percent to NT$41.45.
Union Bank's board to meet
The Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) is expected to hold a special board meeting on Friday at the earliest to approve a plan to raise NT$4 billion in fresh funds, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported yesterday.
The bank aims to raise the funds by the end of the month via a private placement and will use the new capital to enhance its capital adequacy ratio -- the BIS ratio that measures a bank's financial strength -- to more than 10 percent, the report said, citing executive vice president Herman Tu (涂洪茂).
Union Bank has NT$6 billion in non-amortized losses for the first half of the year from bad credit card loans, which will be amortized over the next five years with an amount of NT$130 million each month, the report said.
The bank is likely to try another fund raising plan by the end of the year to further improve its financial structure, the report said.
Buyer eyes China United
Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank (上海商銀) may bid for China United Trust and Investment Corp (中聯信託), which was taken over by the government at the end of March, CNA reported yesterday, citing Shanghai Commercial vice president Ho Chun-ming (何俊明).
Ho said that his bank was conducting due diligence of China United and would make a decision soon on whether to acquire the ailing lender.
Shanghai Commercial has 54 outlets nationwide and plans to expand this network to between 70 and 80 outlets. China United Trust has 20 outlets nationwide.
Evergreen may invest in China
Evergreen Group (長榮集團) may invest in a Chinese shipbuilder to speed up delivery of new vessels.
The company "is looking for opportunities overseas" and "China is one of the options," Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), a company spokesman, said today. Possible locations for the venture include Quanzhou in Fujian Province, he said.
Evergreen Group will join a mainland partner to form a shipbuilding venture in Quanzhou that will run a 350,000 tonne capacity dock, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News said yesterday, citing group chairman Chang Yung-fa (張榮發).
The planned venture is scheduled to start production in 2011, it reported.
Ten-year bonds advance
Ten-year government bonds advanced for a second day yesterday after speculation on declines in several stocks drove investors to the safety of the debt's fixed income.
NT dollar dips
The NT dollar fell NT$0.018 to close at NT$33.025 against the US dollar on the Taipei Forex Inc.

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