TAIEX dips on profit-taking
Taiwanese share prices closed down 3.34 percent yesterday on heavy profit-taking after recent significant gains, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 228.72 points to close at 6,628.02 on turnover of NT$147.30 billion (US$4.49 billion).
The market opened up 0.74 percent on extended buying from the previous session, but profit-taking in late trading sent the index lower, dealers said.
“Selling was concentrated on large cap stocks. It was very likely that foreign institutional investors were behind the sell-off,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Allen Lin said.
Lin said the depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar was proof of foreign fund outflows after portfolio adjustments.
“Since the market fell below the short-term support of 6,700 points, the market has become technically unstable,” Lin said.
Lin said the market could stage a technical rebound, with the index moving closer to around 6,600 points over the next few sessions.
But “more corrections are likely to follow,” Lin said.
Third airport terminal planned
Taiwan plans to add a new runway and terminal to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Taipei in hopes of turning it into a regional hub, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said yesterday.
The expansion would double passenger traffic capacity from 21.9 million last year to 47.5 million in 2035, and cargo volume from 1.49 million tonnes last year to 4.03 million tonnes in 2035, the agency said.
The third runway and terminal would also be able to accommodate the new Airbus A380, the world’s largest aircraft.
The aviation authority said it would choose the general contractor by the end of August and expects a master plan delivered by next June.
China to buy LEDs
China may sign agreements with Taiwan this week on purchasing light-emitting diodes (LED) and sharing technology, an industry official said.
About 80 government and industry officials from China will join a conference in Taipei, after which the two sides may sign the agreements, Simon Tung (董靜宇), vice president of the Taiwanese government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute, told reporters in Taipei yesterday.
BlackBerry Storm coming
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s second-largest telecom operator, yesterday said it planned to introduce Research In Motion’s (RIM) first touch-screen smartphone, Storm, next month to expand BlackBerry phones’ market from corporate customers to the average consumer.
RIM started selling BlackBerry Storm phones before Christmas last year in other markets.
To offer customers more choices, Taiwan Mobile chief operating officer Cliff Lai (賴弦五) said the company was considering selling Android-based mobile phones and netbooks.
NT dollar falls 0.5 percent
The New Taiwan dollar weakened for a fourth day on speculation officials would cap its rise to support overseas sales after a report showed exports shrank for a ninth month.
“There’s been a lot of enthusiasm for Taiwanese assets because of the potential increase in investment from China,” said Mitul Kotecha, head of global forex strategy in Hong Kong at Calyon. “Comments suggest Taiwanese authorities are cautious about the pace of [New] Taiwan dollar gains. Taiwan exports are still under quite significant pressure.”
The NT dollar fell 0.5 percent to NT$32.875 versus the US currency, Taipei Forex Inc said.
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