Shares close higher
Shares closed up 0.35 percent yesterday as buying rotated to old-economy shares to take advantage of low valuations, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 26.1 points to 7,437.98 on turnover of NT$94.78 billion (US$2.93 billion).
Early in the session, the market saw mainly downward pressure triggered by Wall Street losses on Friday, dealers said.
However, rotational buying focused on petrochemical manufacturers and property developers to reverse earlier losses on the broader market, they said.
“Today’s gains were not impressive, with many investors taking to the sidelines,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Allen Lin said, referring to shrinking trade.
Average daily turnover last week stood at NT$110.68 billion.
Since the market drop on Friday, “many have feared further corrections on Wall Street could add more pressure to the local bourse,” Lin said.
Shares closed down 1.77 percent on Friday.
Lin said the market is expected to consolidate over the next few sessions on a lack of fresh cues.
MOEA defends panel policy
The government yesterday said that allowing semiconductor and panel companies to invest more in China would not cost Taiwan jobs.
By allowing semiconductor and panel firms to invest in more advanced technologies in China, the competitiveness of these key industries will improve because China is a strategic location for global integrated-circuit design and fab manufacturing, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said in a statement.
As thin-film-transitory liquid-crystal-display equipment is massive, it is expensive to transport to China, so panel production facilities in Taiwan are not likely to be moved, the MOEA said.
Allowing companies to invest in advanced facilities across the Taiwan Strait will therefore not cost local employees their jobs, the ministry said.
Firm eyes Europe soy market
Yonho International Development Co (永和國際開發) plans to open restaurants in Europe to sell soy milk and other products, an official said.
The company said it wants to start its expansion into Europe in Germany and Austria.
Company president Lin Chien-hsiung (林建雄) told the Central News Agency on Friday that investors in the two countries were interested in the joint venture.
The company operates 300 restaurants in China and outlets in Southeast Asia and North America.
NT dollar strengthens
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday strengthened to approach a one-year high on speculation that deepening trade and investment ties with China will help attract funds to the nation’s assets.
Overseas investors bought US$11.5 billion more Taiwan shares than they sold this year, helping the TAIEX rise 62 percent.
The local currency rose 0.3 percent to close at NT$32.255 against its US counterpart, Taipei Forex Inc said. It reached NT$31.995 last Thursday, the strongest level since the same date a year earlier.
Separately, the nation’s foreign exchange reserves rose to a fresh high of US$332.24 billion last month, an increase of US$6.82 billion from a month earlier, the central bank said yesterday.
The central bank said returns on foreign exchange reserve management accounted for part of the growth. In addition, foreign reserves denominated in the euro, the yen and other currencies strengthened against the greenback and helped enlarge total foreign reserves.
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