TAIEX drops 2.05 percent
Taiwanese shares closed down 2.05 percent yesterday following a fall on Wall Street and on political uncertainty amid criticism of government relief efforts after Typhoon Morakot, dealers said.
The TAIEX index fell 142.03 points to 6,789.77 on turnover of NT$106.7 billion (US$3.23 billion).
Losers outnumbered gainers 2,105 to 350, while 96 shares remained unchanged.
The market opened low and was dragged lower as investors feared mounting criticism of the government’s slow response to the fatal typhoon could prompt a Cabinet reshuffle.
Allen Lin of Concord Securities (康和證券) said the market “may further test the 6,100 point over the short term.”
TIC expects record sales
Taiwan Index Corp (TIC, 台灣易吉網), a subsidiary of online gaming company Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子), expects to post record sales of NT$500 million this year on prospects of a strong pipeline and seasonality, the company said yesterday.
In the first half of the year, TIC reported revenues of NT$220 million, registering a growth of 156 percent from same period last year.
TIC is planning to roll out four game titles in the second half, chief operating officer Ronald Ho (何嘉興) said at a media gathering, while introducing a new game title named You Can Shine.
In the first half, the company only released one title, after the strong launch of Red Cliff in the fourth quarter of last year, he said.
Chunghwa offers digital media
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecom operator, said it would offer an online book shopping service for its subscribers to access digital content on smartphones as early as October.
Yesterday, Chunghwa formed an alliance with local smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) and the nation’s major publishers, including Taiwan Digital Publishing Forum (台灣數位出版聯盟) and Cite Publishing Ltd (城邦集團), to offer the service.
In the initial stage, Chunghwa Telecom will only offer digital content on smartphones, company chairman Lu Shyue-ching (呂學錦). Later, the service could be available on other mobile devices such as electronic readers, Lu said.
TSMC buys investment product
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest custom-chip maker, bought NT$1 billion in two-year, fixed rate callable investment product from Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), the Hsinchu- based company said in an exchange filing yesterday. The contract is 100 percent principal guaranteed upon maturity, the statement said.
Mediatek buys property
Mediatek Inc (聯發科), Taiwan’s biggest chip designer, bought a property in the Neihu Technology Park (內湖科技園區) in Taipei from Founding Construction & Development Co (皇鼎建設) and two other companies for NT$1.59 billion, the Hsinchu-based company said in an exchange filing yesterday.
Australia to supply LNG to China
Australia will supply China with liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth A$50 billion (US$41 billion), officials said yesterday.
This was Australia’s largest resources deal ever, double the size of the LNG supply deal sealed last week with India.
The agreement was signed in Beijing between Gorgon partner ExxonMobil and Chinese energy giant PetroChina (中國石油天然氣).
NT dollar gains on greenback
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.021 to close at NT$32.964. Turnover was US$658 million.
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