Share prices close higher
Taiwanese shares closed 1 percent higher yesterday as Asian markets gained on renewed confidence over the state of the global economy, dealers said.
The weighted index, the market’s key barometer, advanced 77.78 points to close 1.18 percent higher at 6,655.59.
Driven by the announcement of eight incentive policies by China to further bolster cross-strait exchanges, the local bourse opened nearly 200 points higher at 6,750.04 and fluctuated between 6,784.26 and 6,620.53.
A total of 8.82 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$218.77 billion (US$6.65 billion). Foreign investors bought a net NT$12.64 billion in shares.
China Steel venture gets license
China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s largest steelmaker, said yesterday that its joint venture in Vietnam had obtained a license from the local government last week to invest in a steel plant there.
The joint venture, named China Steel Sumikin Vietnam Joint Stock Co (CSVC, 中鋼住金越南公司), is formed by CSC and its Japanese partner Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd.
CSVC will have an annual capacity of 1.6 million tonnes.
Aside from meeting the demand of its Vietnamese clients, CSVC will also supply its products to clients in neighboring Southeast Asian countries, the steelmaker said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
SinoPac in talks with First Sino
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) said yesterday in a stock exchange filing that the company is in talks with Shanghai-based First Sino Bank (華一銀行) over a potential business venture.
However, SinoPac did not elaborate on the matter.
The Chinese-language Commercial Times, citing unnamed sources, reported earlier yesterday that the two are planning to team up on trade financing and other areas.
Naphtha unit back to normal
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) will return its No. 4 naphtha unit to normal output today, the company said in a statement on its Web site.
Output was reduced by about 14 percent because of a compressor fault on Saturday, said Jessica Tang (唐苑莉), a CPC public relations officer. The unit can produce 350,000 tonnes of ethylene a year.
The refiner operates three naphtha-processing plants with a combined annual capacity of 1.08 million tonnes of ethylene.
Petrobras agrees to China loan
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras yesterday agreed to a US$10 billion loan from Beijing-controlled China Development Bank (國家開發銀行), the company said.
“The loan will be used to finance Petrobras’ investment plan and includes the finance of goods and services bought from China,” Petrobras said in a statement.
NTT DoCoMo reveals plans
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc plans to sell a handset that uses Google Inc’s Android software as early as next month to compete with Apple iPhone offered by rival Softbank Corp.
The handset, equipped with a touch screen, is made by Taiwan’s HTC Corp (宏達電). The phone will cost between ¥25,000 (US$259) and ¥30,000 with the company’s two-year installment plan, the company said yesterday.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.112 to close at NT$32.882.
While the local currency climbed 0.3 percent against the greenback, the central bank said the NT dollar was “relatively stable.”
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