Share prices close down
Share prices closed down 0.83 percent yesterday on futures-led selling after a recent strong showing, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 60.61 points to 7,284.61 on turnover of NT$75.06 billion (US$2.31 billion).
Losers led gainers by 1,799 to 541 with 158 stocks unchanged.
The market opened down 0.17 percent following Friday’s Wall Street fall, and the losses widened during the day amid weakening futures trade, dealers said.
“As the bourse moved ahead of the nearest resistance at around 7,500 points, cautious sentiment dominated the trade,” Taiwan International Securities (金鼎證券) analyst Arch Shih (施博元) said.
“Investors feared that the market would suffer a major correction soon following recent significant gains,” Shih said.
The bellwether electronic sector encountered relatively heavy pressure amid earnings concerns, dealers said.
“The market is watching closely how US high-tech firms will report their earnings for the third quarter. It will provide an important indication for local electronic stocks,” Shih said.
HTC falls to four-week low
HTC Corp (宏達電), the No. 1 maker of cellphones using Google Inc’s Android and Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating systems, fell to a four-week low after Research in Motion Ltd forecast third-quarter sales that fell short of analysts’ projections.
“This dragged down HTC’s shares, as investors think this means the smartphone market is not doing well,” said Tom Hsu, a trader at RBS ABN Amro.
The stock fell 3 percent to NT$340.50 as of 12:09pm, the lowest since Aug. 31, while the TAIEX lost 0.8 percent.
China MOU on track: FSC
Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) yesterday told the legislature that the inking of a financial memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China would not be delayed.
Chen said negotiations on the pact’s details and the usage of financial terms had been wrapped up.
The timing for the pact’s signing will be decided by cross-strait policymakers, Chen said.
Media yesterday speculated the pact would be inked in the middle of next month.
Chen also said yesterday that the commission was mulling the possibility of launching reverse mortgages in the face of an aging society.
Reverse mortgages are exclusively for seniors, with the obligation to repay the loan postponed until the owner dies or sells the property.
Chen told the legislature that the FSC would spend the next year studying the option.
Hola faces voucher troubles
Hola Home Furnishings Co (特力和樂), the nation’s largest home furnishing and decoration retail chain, yesterday said it would contact shoppers who bought mislabeled NT$1,000 vouchers online.
The company will contact buyers within three days to discuss the purchases.
The company received orders for 6.4 billion of the vouchers over the past few days after hackers entered the Web site and replaced the price of the vouchers with NT$0.
Hola said the security of its Web site and clientele information remained intact.
However, it has shut down the database that was attacked, the company said.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday weakened by NT$0.047 to close at NT$32.475 against the greenback on turnover of US$700 million.
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