TAIEX reverses early gains
Shares closed flat yesterday, reversing early gains that were led by construction stocks, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 6.71 points, or 0.09 percent, to 7,759.98 on turnover of NT$137.40 billion (US$4.27 billion).
The construction sector closed up 0.20 percent, boosted by news that Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) objected to reining in the property market through taxation or other measures.
Gainers led losers 1,263 to 1,361, with 264 stocks unchanged.
Investors continued to lock in profits as the main index edged toward 7,800, Mega International Investment Service (兆豐國際投顧) trader Stanley Chou said.
Local brands promoted in China
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) will hold four trade fairs in China next year to promote Taiwanese name-brand products, TAITRA deputy secretary Huang Wen-rong (黃文榮) said yesterday.
The trade shows are expected to be held in Dongguan, Nanjing and two other as yet undecided cities, Huang said at the Taiwan pavilion at the Food and Hotel China show that opened in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Biotech, medical sectors touted
The biotech and medical care industries will play a critical role in Taiwan’s economic development, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said yesterday.
He said the government has listed the two sectors among the six potential industries subject to a series of government stimulus measures in the hope that they will succeed the IT sector as the country’s next generation of “star” industries.
Siew said the government’s economic and financial advisory group, which he chairs, was working out post-financial crisis economic strategies that would include industrial transformation and upgrading, as well as nurturing the biotech and medical industries.
He was speaking at an award presentation ceremony in which emerging companies in these sectors were cited for excellent performance over the past year.
China gets tougher on games
China has vowed to tighten supervision of its fast-growing online games market, saying some games contained content that was “harmful” to players.
Some online games used “bloody, violent and obscene” content to attract players, hurting their “physical and psychological health,” the culture ministry said.
The ministry said it would toughen the approval process for new online game companies and step up oversight of content such as role definition and language.
Online game developers should limit the number of virtual marriages and player-versus-player combat and improve technology to restrict the amount of time teenagers can spend on the Internet, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site on Wednesday.
NT dollar weakens 0.5%
The New Taiwan dollar weakened NT$0.162, or 0.5 percent, to NT$32.290 versus the greenback as of 4pm yesterday, the most since April, Taipei Forex Inc said.
The NT dollar touched NT$32.029 on Tuesday, the strongest level since Oct. 1.
The central bank will step in if irregular factors cause excessive currency volatility, Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) said yesterday.
“Excessive fluctuations in the foreign-exchange market are unfavorable for the economy,” he said.
The central bank bought the greenback to slow the local currency’s gains on Tuesday after the NT dollar rose to the highest level in more than a month, two traders familiar with the bank’s operations said.
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