Shares up 0.92 percent
Shares closed up 0.92 percent yesterday as the bellwether electronics sector staged a technical rebound after recent losses, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 40.84 points to 4,477.78 on turnover of NT$57.38 billion (US$1.65 billion).
The market opened down 0.37 percent on Wall Street’s volatility, but bargain hunters emerged to help the index recoup early losses, dealers said.
“The local bourse suffered a plunge on Friday, paving the path for today’s rebound,” President Securities (統一證券) analyst Vickie Hsieh (謝雯霞) said.
The market closed down 2.03 percent on Friday.
“The buying focused on large cap electronic stocks, in particular semiconductor heavyweights. It was an effective way to lift the broader market,” Hsieh said.
Dealers said chipmakers that have close business ties with China also attracted buying on hopes that they can benefit from China’s stimulus package to boost domestic consumption.
Record fiscal deficit for China
China’s fiscal deficit is set to hit a record high this year as the global crisis shrinks revenues while forcing the government to spend more on pump-priming, local media said.
The finance ministry has foreseen a deficit of 950 billion yuan (US$139 billion) in its draft budget for this year, the China Business newspaper reported over the weekend.
The figure is nine times higher than a deficit of 111 billion yuan last year and accounts for about 3 percent of the overall economy, which is an internationally recognized alarm level, the paper said.
“It’s absolutely possible,” said Wang Qian (王黔), an economist with JP Morgan in Hong Kong, when asked if the deficit sounded realistic.
“This year, there’s nothing surprising in a fiscal deficit of 3 percent of the economy,” she said.
China Business said the deficit would result from fiscal spending this year topping 7.6 trillion yuan, up 22.1 percent from last year, as the government plans to raise investment in 15 sectors including housing and transportation.
Acer expects share growth
Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s third-biggest maker of personal computers, forecast it would increase its share of the global laptop-computer market by between 2 and 3 percentage points this year.
In some markets Acer’s share would rise by 10 percentage points, the Taipei-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday, without elaborating.
Company shares climbed 1.6 percent to close at NT$45.50 before the announcement eysterday, while the benchmark TAIEX index added 0.9 percent. Acer had an 11.8 percent share of the global personal computer market in the fourth quarter of last year, research firm IDC said last month.
Sectors see dropping sales
The nation’s sales in the wholesale, retail and bar and restaurant industries totaled NT$894.7 billion last month, down 18.82 percent from the previous year and down 0.17 percent from December, the latest figures released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed yesterday.
Propelled by shopping sprees during the Lunar New Year holiday, revenues in the bar and restaurant industry and retail industry amounted to NT$29.7 billion and NT$300.1 billion last month, up 12.47 percent and 13.04 percent month-on-month, the ministry’s latest statistics showed.
Meanwhile, the wholesale industry, which reflects the country’s import and export businesses, suffered its worst year-over-year declines of 26.77 percent and arrived at NT$565 billion last month, down 6.52 percent from December.
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