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TAIEX slides 0.29 percent

Taiwanese shares closed down 0.29 percent yesterday after investors hunting for bargains brought the market up from early losses following last week’s drop on Wall Street, dealers said.

The weighted index fell 12.90 points at 4,439.80, off a low of 4,362.53, on turnover of NT$43.80 billion (US$1.33 billion).

The market opened down 2.03 percent but buying resurfaced after the index fell below 4,400 points, with investors taking advantage of lower prices, dealers said.

The government was said to step in, buying financial heavyweights, while stocks in firms with close business ties with mainland China also attracted interest, they said.

Chunghwa climbs 3.6 percent

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan’s largest phone operator, climbed to its highest level in a month in Taipei trading after the company said it would begin offering Apple Inc’s iPhone by the end of the year.

Chunghwa shares climbed 3.6 percent to NT$55.40, the highest since Oct. 14, as of 9:18am in Taipei yesterday, compared with a 0.8 percent decline in the benchmark TAIEX index.

The company would become Taiwan’s first operator to offer the third-generation version of the iPhone, Chunghwa vice president Shih Mu-piao said in a phone interview on Friday.

FSC maintains short-sell ban

Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) yesterday told reporters that his commission had no plan to lift the ban on short-selling on all stocks in the local bourse.

The commission reached a consensus during its Sunday meeting to maintain the ban since world economies and global markets hadn’t retained stability, Chen said on the sidelines of a legislative session yesterday.

He said, however, that the commission didn’t rule out the possibility of lifting the ban ahead of its scheduled deadline next month.

Job openings down 40 percent

The number of job openings in Taiwan’s manufacturing companies advertised on the 104 Job Bank Web site for this month is down by 40 percent from a year ago, the company’s marketing department said yesterday.

The number of jobs for experts and workers in manufacturing, planning and quality control that were available on 104 Job Bank’s online employment services chart totaled around 8,000 this month, compared to 22,000 posted in the same month last year, said Chiu Wen-jen (邱文仁), head of 104 Job Bank’s marketing department.

Manufacturing, planning and quality control were the three sectors that best reflected business prosperity or sluggishness, Chiu said, adding that the greater the impact of an economic downturn, the steeper the fall in the number of jobs on offer in these areas.

Fubon to acquire Xiamen bank

China’s financial regulator on Thursday gave Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) a go-ahead to finalize the Taiwanese financial service provider’s acquisition of a 19.9 percent stake in Xiamen City Commercial Bank (廈門市商銀), a bank press statement said yesterday.

The company’s Hong Kong banking subsidiary is expected to close the 230 million yuan (US$33.7 million) deal, or 2.3025 yuan per share, by the end of the year, facilitating the Taiwanese bank’s goal to be the first among local peers to tap into the Chinese markets, the statement said.

After the share investment, Fubon Financial will be allowed to appoint three board members at Xiamen City Commerical Bank’s 11-member board, including its chairman.


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