TAIEX closes lower
Share prices closed 0.15 percent lower yesterday led by construction stocks, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 10.12 points to 6,898.90 on turnover of NT$103.26 billion (US$3.23 billion).
Gainers led losers 1,226 to 1,078 with 191 stocks unchanged.
Losses were limited by gains in the electronics and food sector, said Andrew Teng (鄧安瀾) of Taiwan International Securities Corp (金鼎證券). The market was expected to trade in the 6,870 to 6,970 range tomorrow, he said.
“As agricultural losses from Typhoon Morakot are more certain now, we see demand for food names recovering,” Teng said.
US trade deficit increases
The US trade deficit edged up slightly in June as imports rose for the first time in 11 months, another sign that the worst recession since World War II is beginning to loosen its grip on the economy.
The Commerce Department says the deficit rose 4 percent to US$27 billion, from May’s US$26 billion. The imbalance had been the lowest deficit in nearly a decade.
The bigger June deficit reflected an increase in imports for the first time in nearly a year, an indication that demand in the US is starting to revive.
In a good sign for US producers, exports rose for the second straight month. That could be a signal global demand is also starting to rebound.
Air-Asia income surges
AirAsia Bhd, Southeast Asia’s largest low-fare airline, posted a 14-fold surge in second-quarter net income after it carried more passengers and benefited from a stronger currency.
Profit totaled 139.2 million ringgit (US$39 million), or 5.9 sen a share, compared with 9.42 million ringgit, or 0.4 sen, a year earlier, the Sepang, Malaysia-based airline said yesterday in a statement. Sales rose 8 percent to 657.4 million ringgit.
AirAsia flew 24 percent more passengers and filled 75 percent of seats in the second quarter after adding flights to Taiwan and India.
Hutchison sells Partner stake
Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), agreed to sell its 51 percent stake in Israel’s Partner Communications Ltd to Scailex Corp for US$1.4 billion to focus on its Southeast Asian businesses.
The investment firm owned by Israeli entrepreneur Ilan Ben Dov will buy 78.9 million Hutchison shares for 67 shekels (US$17) each, Scailex said in a statement. Partner is Israel’s second-biggest mobile-phone operator.
Li, 81, will use the US$1 billion pretax profit from selling Hutchison Telecom’s biggest unit to increase investments in faster-growing phone markets including Indonesia and Vietnam.
Central banks ‘intervened’
Central banks in South Korea and Taiwan probably intervened to weaken their currencies over the past two months in order to support exports, Credit Suisse Group AG said.
“This view is seemingly backed up by the increase in central bank foreign-exchange reserves in Korea and Taiwan since end-May,” currency strategist Olivier Desbarres wrote in a note dated Tuesday. “Asian central bank currency management continues to be driven by a preoccupation with maintaining exports competitiveness.”
South Korea’s foreign-exchange reserves totaled US$238 billion at the end of last month, up from US$202 billion at the end of February, while Taiwan’s holdings climbed to US$321 billion from US$294 billion.
NT dollar declines
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.095 to close at NT$32.950. Turnover was US$1.01 billion.
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