TAIEX edges higher
Shares prices on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed 0.49 percent higher yesterday, with the TAIEX rising 37.40 points to finish at 7,597.44.
The local bourse opened at 7,575.62 and fluctuated between a high of 7,597.44 and a low of 7,502.45.
More than 2.99 million shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$91.29 billion.
Six out of the eight major stock categories gained ground. Plastic and chemical stocks were the biggest gainers, with a rise of 2.3 percent.
Foreign investors and Chinese QDIIs were net buyers of NT$613 million worth of shares.
CPC TO RESTAR KAOHSIUNG UNIT
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said it plans to restart a gasoline-producing unit at its Kaohsiung refinery after a five-month stoppage as demand for the fuel improves.
The fluid catalytic cracker and five supporting units are scheduled to resume operations on March 8, Lin Maw-wen (林茂文), a CPC vice president, said by telephone yesterday.
The plants were shut in early October because of weak demand. CPC operates three refineries — the Kaohsiung and Talin plants in Kaohsiung City, and Taoyuan — with a combined processing capacity of 720,000 barrels of crude a day.
CHINESE BANK PLANS RIGHTS OFFER
Bank of Communications Ltd (BOCOM, 交通銀行), China’s fourth-largest lender by market value, plans to raise as much as 42 billion yuan (US$6.15 billion) from a rights offer after a surge in loans drained capital.
The bank will offer 1.5 shares for every 10 held to investors in its Shanghai-listed A-shares and Hong Kong-listed H shares, the company, also known as BoCom, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.
BOCOM’s Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, a key measure of a lender’s financial strength, fell to 8.08 percent as of Sept. 30, the second-lowest among the nation’s six largest publicly traded banks, from 9.54 percent at the start of last year.
EATERIES LAUNCH PROMOTIONS
Major fast food chains have launched promotions to entice consumers as they returned to work after the Lunar New Year holiday.
From 4pm until 2am, diners at McDonald’s can enjoy a 50 percent discount on their second order of a “value meal.” The promotion will end on March 31.
On Monday, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) introduced a six-week-long “Get one at NT$1” sale, while coffee chain Starbucks also launched a “Buy one get one free” drink promotion for the day to usher in the Year of Tiger.
HK INFLATION SLOWS
Hong Kong’s inflation slowed last month as the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday distorted comparisons with a year earlier.
Prices gained 1 percent, after a 1.3 percent rise in December, the government said on its Web site yesterday.
The risk of inflation is reappearing as money flows into the economy, pushing up asset prices, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) said on Monday.
The timing of the holiday, which boosted prices in January last year and was celebrated again this month, was the main cause of the slowdown, the government said in a statement.
NT DOLLAR GAINS GROUND
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.049 to close at NT$32.050. Turnover was US$516 million.
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