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Political fears limit shares

Share prices closed 0.20 percent higher yesterday as late selling mostly offset early advances triggered by Wall Street's overnight gains, dealers said.

Early strength in the market was undercut by domestic political concerns that prompted some investors to reduce their holdings late in the session, they said.

The TAIEX finished up 17.46 points at 8,694.41, on turnover of NT$127.81 billion (US$3.96 billion).

Decliners outnumbered advancers 1,267 to 762, with 445 stocks unchanged.

On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar ended the day's trading at NT$32.309 over the US dollar, up NT$0.002 from the previous close.

Corning to boost spending

Corning Inc, the biggest maker of glass for liquid-crystal displays, plans to raise capital spending next year to between US$1.5 billion and US$1.7 billion as it boosts production of screens for large flat-screen TVs.

Corning's display unit alone will spend US$800 million to US$1 billion next year, the company said yesterday in a statement. That includes US$400 million on a plant in Japan for so-called Gen 10 manufacturing, which produces panels for large-screen TVs.

The new factory in Japan will make large liquid-crystal display panels for Sharp Corp TVs.

Corning also expects to add production capacity to its plants in Taiwan.

ST Electronics wins MRT deal

The electronics arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Electronics) has won a contract to design and install communications systems for two of Taipei's mass rapid transit lines, the company said yesterday.

The S$36 million (US$25 million) contract is for the Songshan and Xinyi lines, with the projects expected to be completed in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The firm said it will start work during the first quarter of next year on the 6.4km Xinyi line, which will have six underground stations, and the 8.6km Songshan line, which will have eight underground stations.

The systems will be integrated into existing ones at an operation control center and help facilitate an "efficient, reliable and safe mode of transportation," ST Electronics said.

OECD tries to ease fears

After months of turmoil on financial markets and fears about recession in the US, the Organization for Economic and Community Development (OECD) sent a reassuring message to industrialized countries yesterday: Growth is slowing, but don't panic.

Growth of the OECD economy, which includes North America, most of Europe, Japan and Australia among others, would be 2.7 percent this year and 2.3 percent next, the Paris-based organization's latest Economic Outlook said.

That figure was a sharp downwards revision from a previous forecast of 2.7 percent, made in May. The prediction for US growth was also slashed to 2 percent from 2.5 percent.

Crucially however, the US economy would avoid recession despite weakness in the housing market, the OECD said.

BYD sees more Nokia orders

BYD Electronic (International) Co (比亞迪), a Chinese contract manufacturer of mobile phones, said that its largest customer, Nokia Oyj, will raise orders next year.

"Nokia will substantially increase orders," BYD chairman Wang Chuan-fu (王傳福) told reporters at a briefing in Hong Kong yesterday.

Nokia accounted for 76.4 percent of total sales in the first half, BYD said. The Shenzhen-based company said it had 1.85 billion yuan (US$250 million) in revenue in the six months through June.
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