TAIEX pauses after rallies
Taiwanese share prices closed down 0.87 percent yesterday on profit-taking, putting an end to a recent series of rallies, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 63.27 points to 7,250.72 on turnover of NT$136.51 billion (US$4.17 billion). Losers outnumbered gainers 1,521 to 922, while 184 stocks remained unchanged.
“Profit-taking was reasonable at this point. After all, the market had risen more than 700 points, or 10 percent, over the eight-day rise,” Mars Hsu of Grand Cathay Securities Corp (大華證券) said.
Tax revenues down
The nation’s treasury took in NT$72.31 billion (US$2.2 billion) in tax revenues last month, down 10.2 percent from a year ago, the Ministry of Finance said yesteday.
Commodity tax amounted to NT$10.6 billion, up 7.7 percent from the same period last year, owing to an increase in car sales.
Securities transaction levies dropped 6.2 percent, or NT$4.4 billion, to NT$8.3 billion as the TAIEX entered a downward correction last month, the ministry said.
Land value incremental tax grew 7.5 percent to NT$4.6 billion because of a low base last year, the ministry said.
Total tax revenues stood at NT$995.6 billion for the first eight months of the year, accounting for 55.8 percent of the budget target, the ministry said.
Chi Mei signs loan deal
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s No. 2 liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panel maker, yesterday signed an agreement with 17 local banks for NT$40 billion (US$1.22 billion) in syndicated loans.
The Tainan-based manufacturer planned to use the loans to boost working capital and to fund development, it said in a statement.
Chi Mei increased its capital spending slightly to NT$40 billion this year, from NT$35 billion budgeted earlier this year.
The 17 lenders include the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (台灣土地銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一商業銀行).
TWSE promoted overseas
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) chairman Schive Chi (薛琦) said six Taiwanese companies applied to list on the local bourse last year, and the number reached 19 in the first half of this year.
“Before the end of this year, 11 more companies are expected to file listing applications,” said Schive, who headed a delegation of financial officials to London.
He said London was the first leg of a trip aimed at attracting overseas Taiwanese companies and foreign enterprises to list their stocks on the Taiwan Stock Exchange or the over-the-counter GRETAI Securities Market.
Schive and his delegation were to leave for New York yesterday.
Local firms shine in Paris
Houseware products from 27 Taiwanese companies have captured visitors’ attention at the Maison & Objet home fashion show in Paris, the Taiwan Design Center said yesterday.
“This is the third straight time Taiwan has taken part in Maison & Objet Paris, and we are showing a more mature and diversified style of design,” the center, a nonprofit organization and organizer of the Taiwanese pavilion at the trade show, said in a statement.
The trade fair, which was held from Friday until Tuesday, is the largest specialized home design and decoration exhibition in Europe. It attracts more than 73,000 professional buyers and 180,000 visitors annually.
NT dollar edges up
The New Taiwan dollar gained against the US currency on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.015 to close at NT$32.745.
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