Bargain-hunting boosts index
Share prices closed up 1.63 percent yesterday, spurred by bargain hunting for technology and construction stocks, dealers said.
The TAIEX rose 105.10 points to 6,567.37 on turnover of NT$116.66 billion (US$3.65 billion).
Construction rose 5.05 percent, financials gained 1.88 percent and electronics added 1.31 percent.
Shares reversed earlier losses with bargain hunting in the technology and construction sectors as well as possible support of some government funds, Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) trader Diana Wu said.
“Institutional investors are bottom-fishing now but they will likely sell above 6,700 points,” she said.
Chong Hong Construction (長虹建設) soared 6.9 percent to NT$65.40 and property developer Farglory Group (遠雄) rose 6.46 percent to NT$75.90.
China Steel (中鋼) was up 3.2 percent at NT$28.80 after raising domestic steel prices by 7 percent for next month and August.
Panel makers AU Optronics (友達) gained 1.80 percent to NT$36.
ProMOS to layoff 550
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), the nation’s most unprofitable memory-chip maker, will lay off 550 workers as it idles a plant in Taichung, spokesman Ben Tseng (曾邦助) said by telephone yesterday.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker had 5,800 employees as of the end of March 31, its latest financial filing to Taiwan’s exchange said.
Game deal signed
Mega Biotech & Electronics Co (美嘉生電), an online game and arcade game maker based in Kaohsiung, signed an agreement with UK Microgaming’s distributor Long Sheng Asset Management Ltd to produce more online games, Mega said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The new games will be launched at the end of this month, the company said.
The stock surged 5.4 percent to NT$146.50, the highest since Nov. 8, 2000, as of 11am.
Restaurant work popular
Eighty-nine percent of undergraduates are planning to work this summer, with restaurant wait staff jobs topping the list of most-wanted position, a new survey by 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) released yesterday showed.
Among those who intend to find summer work, 86 percent said they wanted to earn pocket money or to support their lifestyle, the survey found.
Sixty-one percent mentioned the need to enrich their work experience in preparation for post-graduation job searches, while 37 percent said they need money to pay tuition.
Asked to name the positions they will be seeking, 56 percent said they wanted to work as restaurant wait staff, and 43 percent said customer service representatives.
Other popular positions included guidance counselors (22 percent) and jobs in the travel and leisure sector (17 percent).
NT dollar drops
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell toward a two-week low to close at NT$32.798 against the greenback as investors sold the nation’s equities on concerns that prices have risen too much during the recession, analysts said.
“The question for Taiwan is whether it’s going to be a V-shaped recovery, with domestic demand capable of lifting the economy significantly, or is it going to be a slower-paced economy,” said Tim Condon, chief Asia economist at ING Groep NV in Singapore.
“I suspect the central bank will heavily manage the currency, it’ll be one of the most stable in Asia,” he said.
It touched NT$32.951 on Tuesday, the weakest level since May 20.
Turnover was US$765 million.
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