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Shares fall slightly

Taiwanese shares closed little changed yesterday amid ongoing probes into money-laundering allegations implicating former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his family, dealers said.

The weighted index fell 6.84 points, or 0.10 percent, to 6,911.64, off a low of 6,837.25 and a high of 6,994.80 on turnover of NT$78.93 billion (US$2.51 billion).

The market opened higher on a technical rebound but profit-taking followed to erode gains as investors remained wary of investigations into the money-laundering allegations, dealers said.

Moreover, higher crude oil prices had renewed fears of inflation, they said.

“As the market moved higher, investors tended to pocket their money.

Yesterday’s movements clearly demonstrated weak investor confidence,” Taiwan International Securities (金鼎證券) analyst Arch Shih (施博元) said.

Shih said the relatively low turnover also reflected poor market sentiment.

However, he said the bright side was that the market seemed to have short-term technical support at around 6,800 points.

“The market has entered a consolidation mode. Without trading volume expanding, it is hard for the bourse to get out of the current narrow range,” he said.

HannStar in share buyback

Local liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) yesterday said it planned to spend as much as NT$2.32 billion to buy back 255 million common shares to boost return on equity for shareholders.

HannStar said it planned to buy the shares, about 5 percent of the company’s total outstanding stock, for between NT$7 and NT$13.03 for a two-month period ending Oct. 24, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.

The firm plans to cancel the shares repurchased. Its board approved the share buyback plan yesterday.

Uni-President loses millions

Uni-President Enterprises Corp’s (統一企業) China-listed holding company has suffered 128 million yuan (US$18.73 million) in exchange losses in the first half of this year, a report said yesterday.

The firm’s first-half earnings declined by 18.4 percent from a year ago to 212 million yuan, the Chinese-language Commercial Times newspaper reported yesterday.

The company said it failed to fully convert 4 billion yuan raised from its initial public offerings late last year.

The subsidiary, 73.5 percent owned by the parent, posted 13.1 percent year-on-year growth to 5,037 billion yuan in the first half of the year, the report said.

After-tax profits registered 212 million yuan, an 18.4 percent year-on-year decline, the report said.

Chi Mei donates building

The Chi Mei Group (奇美集團) — the world’s fourth-largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal-display panels in terms of revenue — will donate a NT$440 million (US$14 million) building to National Chiao Tung University’s Tainan campus, an executive of the group announced yesterday.

Frank Liao (廖錦祥), chairman of Chi Mei Corp and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美光電) — two subsidiaries of the Chi Mei Group — said the building is scheduled to be completed by the end of next August in time for the beginning of the fall semester.

The facility will house Taiwan’s first College of Optoelectronics, which will cultivate talent for the electro-optical industry, Liao said.

NT dollar strengthens

The New Taiwan dollar yesterday firmed by NT$0.019 to trade at NT$31.370 against the greenback on turnover of US$840 million.


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