TAIEX continues to rise
The TAIEX closed 0.8 percent higher yesterday as the market continued its rise, boosted by a sharp decline in crude oil prices and a rebound by US banking stocks, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 58.25 points to 7,368.08 on turnover of NT$121.57 billion (US$4 billion). Advancers led decliners 1,292 to 856, while 446 stocks were unchanged.
A total of 46 stocks closed limit-up and 29 limit-down.
Allen Lin of Concord Securities (康和證券) said “some investors sold to lock in profits but the downside was limited.”
The main index may test 7,400, or even 7,500, today if US shares extend gains overnight, Hua Nan Securities (華南證券) analyst Stan Chang said.
“But I think the upside of tech stocks is limited, given the weaker-than-expected outlook in the third quarter,” Chang said.
Stock Exchange head named
Premier Li Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) yesterday appointed Schive Chi (薛琦), former president of the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance, as chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp, Executive Yuan Spokeswoman Vanessa Shih (史亞平) said.
Schive replaces Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), who had been designated by the former Democratic Progressive Party administration in July 2006.
Having served as vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development under the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, Schive said he would advocate expanding the size of the country’s capital market and attracting overseas Taiwanese companies to list on the local stock market.
FSC appointment approved
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday that the Presidential Office had approved the appointment of Securities and Futures Bureau Director-General Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) as a vice chairman of the commission.
Lee Chi-hsien (李啟賢), deputy director-general of the Securities and Futures Bureau, will serve as an acting director-general during the transitional period, the FSC said in a statement.
Gou pledges billions to charity
Terry Gou (郭台銘), whose wealth is estimated at about NT$173 billion, pledged to donate billions of dollars to charity at his engagement banquet as he was sitting beside his bride-to-be, a 34-year-old dancer, the TVBS news channel reported yesterday.
His Hon Hai Group’s (鴻海集團) flagship company, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), is the world’s largest contract manufacturer in the electronics sector.
“Mr Gou made the decision to donate 90 percent of his personal assets to charities ... and his bride-to-be supports the decision without any hesitation,” KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told TVBS without elaborating.
Wu was a guest of honor at the banquet.
The 58-year-old Gou, whose first wife died of cancer in 2005, is set to marry the dancer today.
China Steel posts profit
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s largest steelmaker, said it posted an unaudited pretax profit of NT$18.8 billion in the second quarter.
Profit on that basis rose 31 percent from the previous three months, the Kaohsiung-based company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. China Steel didn’t provide the pretax profit number for the second quarter of last year.
NT dollar slightly lower
The NT dollar lost ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.024 to close at NT$30.418.
A total of US$1.124 billion changed hands during day trading.
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