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Shares make minor gain

Shares closed 0.3 percent higher yesterday as late profit-taking limited gains propelled by Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve's larger-than-expected interest rate cut, dealers said.

They said regional markets such as Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong moved higher in line with the New York lead, convincing Taiwanese investors to follow suit on the lack of major domestic leads.

The TAIEX closed up 26.47 points at 8,926.38 after trading in a range between 8,900.80 and 9,090.90. Turnover was NT$171.26 billion (US$5.17 billion).

Decliners outnumbered advancers 1,276 to 562, with 216 stocks unchanged.

Kevin Chung (鐘國忠), a manager at Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧), said investors were reluctant to chase prices higher with uncertainty surrounding the US economy and technical resistance on the local bourse offsetting early gains.

Wistron goes to court

Taiwanese laptop computer maker Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday said it filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco over a year-long patent dispute with Samsung Electronics Co.

To safeguard the interest of the company and its customers, Wistron has requested the court rule that it has not infringed patents covering notebook computer manufacturing as Samsung claimed, according to the company's filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Wistron's move came after it failed to reach an agreement during the intellectual-property-rights dispute with the South Korean electronics giant over the past year, the Hsinchu-based company said.

HTC gains from Sony report

High Tech Computer Corp (HTC, 宏達電), the largest maker of handsets using Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, gained the most in two weeks after a report the company won orders from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd.

HTC shares rose NT$12.5, or 2.78 percent, to close at NT$462.50 in Taipei.

The Taoyuan-based company will ship more than 1 million Windows-based handsets to Sony Ericsson, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday, without citing sources. Sony Ericsson will debut its first Windows-based smart-phone in the second half of next year, according to the report.

"We cannot comment on our customers' products, and won't confirm or deny the report," HTC chief financial officer Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) said by telephone.

Ten-year bonds yield drops

Taiwan's government sold NT$40 billion (US$1.2 billion) in 10-year bonds at a yield of 2.42 percent, lower than the rate of return from the last sale of comparable debt.

The yield in the previous sale on June 11 was 2.58 percent. Yesterday's auction drew bids equal to 1.8 times the debt on offer, compared with 1.88 times at the last auction, according to the central bank.

Gas prices may rise

The Great Taipei Gas Corp (大台北瓦斯) rose by the daily maximum on the Taiwan Stock Exchange after it said it may raise prices next year.

The natural gas retailer, the nation's biggest by market value, closed up 6.9 percent in Taipei, the highest since NT$17.80 on July 31.

Great Taipei Gas has applied to raise prices by NT$1.9 a cubic meter, or about 13 percent, Lin Jui-san (林瑞山), a company vice president, said by telephone yesterday.

The price change requires approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Taipei City Government and the Taipei City Council, Lin said.

"It'll take at least six months or maybe a year for a decision," he said. "The size of the price gain is up to regulators."


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