TAIEX advances 0.54%
Taiwanese share prices closed up 0.54 percent yesterday, led by flat-panel stocks amid growing demand and a positive outlook for the liquid-crystal-display industry next year, dealers said.
The TAIEX rose 41.75 points to close at 7,756.31 on turnover of NT$124.5 (US$3.86 billion).
Losers led gainers by 1,363 to 1,256 with 251 stocks unchanged.
The market “retreated slightly from morning highs, as selling pressure appeared when the [market] approached the resistance level of 8,000,” Bill Huang of KGI Securities (凱基證券) said.
He expected the market to consolidate in the 7,700-7,800 range as most investors were likely to stay on the sidelines ahead of local elections next week.
Wages dip most in 30 years
Wages dropped the most in 30 years in the first nine months of this year, as the effects of the global financial crisis took their toll on the economy, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said yesterday.
Average wages from January to September were down 6.23 percent from the same period last year, it said.
“It’s the sharpest drop in 30 years,” said Chang Yi-sui, a press official at the agency. “The economy had not yet fully recovered in the first half of the year.”
GRETAI, SGX sign memo
The GRETAI Securities Market signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) yesterday on cooperating to develop their repective capital markets.
The MOU aims to foster greater communication between the two exchanges through staff exchange, training and the sharing of information on market development, a press release said.
“This collaboration will benefit both GRETAI and SGX and help us build a complementary relationship,” GRETAI Chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) said in the release.
“In our development as an Asian Gateway, Taiwan has been an important market for SGX,” the Singaporean exchange’s chief executive Hsieh Fu Hua (謝福華) said in the release.
Trade chief leaves for Japan
Taiwan’s top foreign trade official departed yesterday for Japan to attend a Taiwan-Japan economic and trade meeting aimed at enhancing industry cooperation between the two countries.
Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬), the director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, said that issues on e-commerce were expected to be discussed at the meeting.
Taiwan and Japan will also exchange views on issues related to the 2010 APEC forum that will be hosted by Japan, Huang said.
TPV sees more consolidation
TPV Technology Ltd (冠捷), a holding of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), said it expected more consolidation among makers of liquid-crystal displays.
“There are still eight, nine players in the world, and some of the companies will be merged together to create more economies of scale,” chairman Jason Hsuan (宣建生) said in a briefing in Hong Kong yesterday.
TPV, the world’s biggest maker of computer monitors, buys LCD panels from eight suppliers and will continue to purchase from Chi Mei, he said.
Chi Mei, the nation’s second-biggest LCD maker, this month said it would combine with Innolux Display Co (群創光電).
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, advancing NT$0.052 to close at NT$32.236. Turnover was US$644 million.
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