TAIEX closes higher
Share prices closed higher yesterday with the TAIEX, the market’s key barometer, moving up 70.59 points, or 0.89 percent, to close at 7,947.45.
The local bourse opened at 7,918.95 and fluctuated between a low of 7,909.06 and a high of 7,961.14 during the day’s trading. Market turnover totaled NT$120.93 billion (US$3.79 billion).
All eight major stock categories gained ground, with food shares gaining the most at 4.21 percent. Foreign investors and Chinese qualified domestic institutional investors were net buyers of NT$12.21 billion in shares.
Fubon buys stake in PRC firm
Taiwan’s Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) said it invested 66.6 million yuan (US$9.8 million) for a one-third stake in a fund management venture with China’s Founder Securities Co (方正證券) as cross-strait financial investment restrictions ease.
The venture, Founder Fubon Fund Management Co (方正富邦基金管理公司), will be based in Beijing and have initial capital of 200 million yuan, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) said in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday.
“We have already applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission for approval and hope to get a license to operate this year,” Fubon Financial president Victor Kung (龔天行) said by telephone.
The Taiwanese company can raise its stake in the venture to a maximum of 49 percent, according to Chinese regulations, Kung said.
Volvo vows to keep up services
Volvo Cars Taiwan Ltd yesterday vowed to safeguard services and rights to local Volvo owners once Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (吉利控股集團), China’s No. 10 automaker, acquires the Swedish carmaker Volvo from Ford.
The company said that its local sales network would remain the same, and that it was happy to see anything beneficial to Volvo’s future development.
Sales of Volvos in Taiwan have been brisk in the past three years, the company said, adding that its 100-unit sales quota for its new two-door hatchback Volvo C30 this year had been reached three weeks after the car went on the market.
With healthy sales of the XC60, S40 and V50, the company said it expected Volvo sales in Taiwan to set a record this year.
Local media reported Volvo Taiwan sold 1,760 cars this year, up more than 30 percent from 2008 and its third consecutive year of growth.
Local currency rises
The New Taiwan dollar rose yesterday, approaching an 18-month high, on optimism the nation’s improving economy will encourage overseas investors to add to holdings of local shares.
The currency has risen 0.6 percent this quarter, helped by accords with China on investment and trade.
“Funds are flowing into the region on growth prospects, spurring upward pressures on Asian currencies,” said Yuji Kameoka, a senior economist based in Tokyo at the Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd. “Currencies such as the Taiwan dollar won’t see a sharp one-way advance due to intervention concern in the market.”
The NT dollar rose 0.2 percent to NT$31.815 against the US currency as of the 4pm close, Taipei Forex Inc said. The currency reached NT$31.667 on March 18, the strongest level since September 2008.
Meanwhile, the nation’s central bank issued NT$290 billion of certificates of deposit yesterday, compared with NT$353.67 billion of certificates that matured, the monetary authority said in a statement on its Web site.
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