Shares close down 0.80%
Taiwanese shares closed down 0.80 percent yesterday on Wall Street’s overnight fall and mixed regional markets, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 49.61 points to 6,132.60 on turnover of NT$92.66 billion (US$2.90 billion).
Gainers led decliners 946 to 782, with 413 stocks unchanged.
Financials led the fall, losing 1.84 percent on the cue from Wall Street amid uncertainty over the US government’s massive bank bailout plan.
Chinfon criticizes FSC head
Financially troubled Chinfon Commercial Bank (慶豐銀行) yesterday blamed Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) for his negative comments on Tuesday, which it said had triggered a small confidence crisis among the bank’s time deposit clients.
Media reports said that many of the bank’s time depositors expressed concerns over the bank’s viability and had withdrawn more than NT$200 million (US$62.58 million) in savings by yesterday, after Chen said the bank had a net loss of NT$7.26 billion.
Chinfon declined to update the total withdrawn. The lender assured depositors that the bank’s financial status was stable and said the bank would complete its NT$20 billion recapitalization plan by the end of the year.
The bank missed a July deadline set by the FSC to complete its recapitalization.
Central bank rebuts reports
The central bank said there are ample funds in the banking system, rejecting media reports that liquidity was tight among lenders.
The central bank said that it would closely monitor market demand for funds. The Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that liquidity was tight as financial institutions sold their bond holdings.
Interbank loan rates are stable, with daily trading volumes between NT$60 billion and NT$80 billion, the central bank said.
Factory gets slap on wrist
Vietnam will suspend operations of a Taiwanese-owned Vedan (味丹) condiment factory in Dong Nai Province that was emitting illegal pollutants, a senior government official said yesterday.
“We will halt Vedan’s operations until the company remediates its environmental effects,” Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said.
Inspectors said Vedan was accused of discharging a total of 45,000m³ of contaminated effluents over the past 10 years, effectively killing a 12km stretch of the Thi Vai River.
“The firm has repeatedly violated environmental regulations by dumping untreated wastewater into the Thi Vai River since 1994,” Ha said. “Vietnamese authorities have warned them, but things have not changed much.”
Next Media CEO steps down
Jimmy Lai (黎智英) will step down as chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based newspaper and magazine publisher Next Media Ltd (壹傳媒集團), which he founded and controls, to be replaced by a former senior executive of PepsiCo Inc.
Next, publisher of the Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper and Next Magazine in Hong Kong and Taiwan, is appointing Chu Wah-hui, previously chairman of Asia for PepsiCo International.
Lai, 59, will remain Next’s chairman.
NT dollar loses ground
The NT dollar lost ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.024 to close at NT$31.961.
A total of US$1.043 billion changed hands during the day.
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