Taiwanese shares drop 0.22%
Taiwanese shares closed down 0.22 percent yesterday in thin trade despite modest gains on Wall Street, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 9.64 points to 4,413.45 on turnover of NT$29.5 billion (US$893 million).
Losers led gainers by 700 to 692 with 334 stocks unchanged.
Many investors chose to stay on the sidelines during Christmas and New Year holidays to wait for a clearer indication when Wall Street and other regional markets resume trading, traders said.
“The economic outlook is pessimistic, so local investors have no intention of building positions unless their investment targets drop to very low levels,” said KGI Securities (凱基證券) trader Scott Hsu.
M2 money supply up 5.05%
The nation’s M2 money supply, the broadest measure of money flowing through the banking system, grew 5.05 percent last month from a year earlier, up from a 4.09 percent rise in October, the central bank said yesterday.
The bank attributed the faster growth to a net inflow of funds as Taiwanese expatriates repatriated investments from overseas, and an increase in bank loans.
M1A, meanwhile, rose 1.19 percent last month, following a 1.64 percent rise the previous month, the statement said. M1B dropped 3.55 percent for the 11th straight month, following a 4.08 percent fall in October, the statement said.
New chairman at Taisugar
Hu Mao-lin (胡懋麟), a former vice chairman of the Council of Agriculture, yesterday replaced Wu Rong-ming (吳容明) as chairman of Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖) as the company held a swearing-in ceremony at its headquarters in Tainan.
Hu’s appointment was approved on Wednesday by the company’s board of directors.
Wu, who had been in his post for only two months, unexpectedly tendered his resignation last month in protest at Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung’s (江丙坤) attempt to install his nephew Chen Ching-bin (陳清彬) over Wu’s favored candidate as general manager.
IBT Securities bosses caned
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday ordered IBT Securities Co (台灣工銀證券) to dismiss chairman Lin Chin-hsiang (林慶祥) from his post and suspend president Morris Hsu (�?Z) from his duties for one year over inadequate oversight of company affairs and violating securities regulations.
The commission said in a statement that it would also order the local securities firm to cease new underwriting business activities for three months from Jan. 1 through March 31.
The financial regulator’s punishment for IBT Securities and its two high-ranking executives came after the securities firm was found to have flaws in the way it conducted reverse repurchase transactions on collateralized bond obligations (CBOs) with two counterparties, resulting in a default of around NT$2.79 billion (US$84.6 million).
On Wednesday, the securities firm’s parent company, Industrial Bank of Taiwan (台灣工銀), said its board had approved the resignation of Lin and had decided to award a major demerit to Hsu.
The board of Industrial Bank of Taiwan yesterday appointed Gordon Lin (林杇柴), an executive vice president, as acting chairman of the securities firm for the interim period.
Currency gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.015 to close at NT$33.030.
A total of US$547 million changed hands during the day’s trading.
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