NT dollar gold futures approved
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday approved the issuance of the nation's first-ever NT dollar-denominated gold futures by the Taiwan Futures Exhange (TAIFEX).
The new future contract is slated to be traded at the TAIFEX on Jan. 28 next year, a press statement said yesterday.
TAIFEX launched US dollar-denominated gold futures in March, but sales have performed poorly because of the US dollar's declining value, it said.
US-donimated gold futures also have a higher-than-expected investment threshold of NT$3 million (US$92,300) per contract. The NT-dollar gold futures will have an investment threshold of around NT$500,000, the commission said.
Rate hike okay: Yongching
The central bank's interest rate hike will have limited impact on the nation's property market, real-estate agencies said yesterday.
Wang Tsai-wan (王財旺), a sales manager at Yungching Real Estate Agency (永慶房屋), said the hike would only add a few hundred NT dollars to home buyers' monthly mortgage payments.
However, he expressed concern that owners of the government's preferential loans could come under heavier pressure because of the mortgage burden.
Wang said the local property market was seeing a temporary setback because of US financial troubles and that this could spell more bad news for the economy.
NT gains against greenback
The NT dollar yesterday gained NT$0.011 to close at NT$32.496 against the greenback on turnover of US$764 million.
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