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Taiwanese shares close up

Taiwanese share prices closed up 0.28 percent yesterday as bargain-hunting toward the close reversed an early pullback caused by Wall Street's overnight weakness, dealers said.

The weighted index closed up 22.78 points at the day's high of 8,108.71, off a low of 7,986.97, on turnover of NT$131.21 billion (US$4.19 billion).

The financial and electronics sectors were up 1.11 percent and 0.10 percent respectively.

The construction sector was up 2.23 percent, textiles rose 0.51 percent, food was up 0.32 percent and plastics/petrochemicals rose 0.26 percent.

The cement sector was down 0.59 percent and paper was down 0.24 percent.

"Investors opted not to sell down their holdings excessively because many were still betting on a pre-election upswing on the back of a firmer Taiwan dollar in the coming weeks," Taiwan International Securities (金鼎證券) analyst Arch Shih (施博元) said.

The presidential election takes place on March 22.

The market managed to hold above the psychologically significant threshold of 8,000 points in the face of an early sell-off triggered by Wall Street, he said.

In the near term, the Taipei bourse is likely to match or even exceed global market gains and show resilience when others lose ground, he said.

Taipower expects big losses

Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) said yesterday that Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) may suffer a loss of as much as NT$100 billion this year amid rising crude oil prices.

In response to questions from KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), Chen told a legislative session that Taipower accrued NT$31.2 billion in losses last year and is estimated to see losses in excess of NT$40 billion this year, up to as much as NT$100 billion if domestic and foreign fuel prices continue to increase.

Citing Taipower data, Ting said nuclear power, which accounts for 20 percent of the state-run electricity company's total power output, remains a cheap source of energy generation.

Fiscal deficit narrows

The central government's fiscal deficit narrowed to NT$30 billion (US$960 million) last year, thanks to a 5.7 percent economic growth rate and an increase in tax revenue, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.

Taiwanese companies enjoyed rosy earnings growth last year, which contributed to the government's increase in tax revenue, it said.

The nation's tax revenue totaled NT$1.7 trillion last year, surpassing the budgeted figure of NT$120 billion, with the central government's tax income increasing by NT$90 billion, the statistics agency said.

Preliminary statistics showed that the government's budget surplus for last year amounted to nearly NT$70 billion with a fiscal deficit of NT$30 billion, substantially better than the record deficit of NT314.7 billion recorded in 2003, the agency said.

The figures signify a big step toward the government's goal of balancing the budget by 2011, the agency said.

FETC reveals substantial loss

Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co (FETC, 遠通電收), the sole contractor for the nation's electronic toll collection system, said yesterday its operating losses for the past two years amounted to NT$2.27 billion as a result of a lack of financial aid from the government.

Additionally, Far Eastern Electronic said it plans to discontinue its discounted price of NT$680 per onboard unit at the end of the month. From March 1, the units will retail at NT$1,199.
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