Profit-taking trims gains
Taiwanese share prices closed up 0.52 percent yesterday after profit-taking in late trade eroded early strong gains on a Wall Street rally, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 23.34 points to close at 4,494.59, off a high of 4,574.74, on turnover of NT$79.83 billion (US$2.4 billion).
The market opened 2.04 percent higher as buying was ignited by a 2.68 percent hike on Wall Street on Friday on hopes that the US Senate would pass a massive economic stimulus package soon, dealers said.
However, pressure emerged after the index jumped across the nearest technical resistance at around 4,500 points, they said.
Despite expectations that the stimulus plan would be approved, “uncertainty over the global economy remains,” Grand Cathay Securities (大華證券) analyst Mars Hsu said.
“Investors would like to keep alert for the moment. The profit-taking was expected,” Hsu said.
Buying still focused on large cap electronic stocks, with more and more foreign institutional investors returning to the trading floor, dealers said.
Hsu said it was unlikely for the market to take a dive any time soon given adequate liquidity despite worries over economic fundamentals.
“The expanded daily turnover showed institutional investors were rebuilding positions. The trend is expected to continue,” Hsu said.
Intel cuts events to cut cost
Intel Corp, the world’s largest chipmaker, canceled an annual industry forum in Taiwan and shortened the length of an event in Beijing to cut costs.
“Because of the current economic environment, we’ve made this change,” said Shardae Chiu (邱雅欣), a Taipei-based spokeswoman for the Santa Clara, California-based company said.
The Beijing part of the Intel Developers’ Forum, scheduled for April, will be cut to one day from two, while a San Francisco program scheduled for September will go ahead as planned, Chiu said. The Taipei forum was originally scheduled for October.
PC makers report sales pain
Taiwanese PC makers Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Wistron Corp (緯創) and Pegatron/Unihan Corp (和碩) yesterday reported sales figures for last month.
Quanta Computer, the world’s largest notebook contract maker, reported that consolidated revenues last month fell 19.3 percent year-on-year to NT$43.06 billion, on shipments of 2 million units.
Wistron reported sales of NT$33.67 billion last month, a 28.3 percent year-on-year increase.
Pegatron/ Unihan, a computer manufacturer owned by local computer vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), also reported NT$23.26 billion in sales last month, or a year-on-year decline of 35.7 percent.
Workers forced to take leave
About 100,000 workers and operators at the Hsinchu Science Park are being sent on unpaid leave each week as a result of the global economic recession, the park’s administration said yesterday.
A survey conducted by the administration early this month found that 56 companies, or 12 percent of the firms in the park, had asked their employees to take unpaid leave since late last year.
The 100,000 employees constitute 76 percent of the park’s total number of workers and operators, the administration said.
Of the 56 companies, 49 have asked all of their employees to take unpaid days off, while the remaining seven companies have asked some of their staff to do so.
Unpaid leaves average one to two days per week, the survey found.
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