TAIEX down 64.9 points
Share prices were down yesterday, with the TAIEX falling 64.89 points, or 0.79 percent, to close at 8,081.55.
The local bourse opened at the day’s low of 7,944.70 and rose to 8,092.48 before dropping again. Market turnover totaled NT$123.68 billion (US$3.94 billion).
Foreign investors and Chinese qualified domestic institutional investors were net sellers of NT$7.15 billion in shares.
More firms plan local listing
About 40 Taiwanese companies based overseas are likely to obtain listings on the Taiwan Stock Exchange by the end of the year, bringing the ratio of such enterprises listed on the local market to 5 percent, the stock exchange reported yesterday.
As of the end of last year, 14 Taiwanese companies had listed Taiwan depositary receipts on the local stock market, and four more followed suit in the first four months of this year, the stock exchange said.
The number will hit 40 by the end of this year and will hopefully grow by 10 percent next year, it added.
Bank approves dividend payout
The Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank (上海商銀) yesterday approved a proposal during its annual shareholder meeting to give out a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per share, it said in a press statement.
For last year, the bank reported NT$7.3 billion in net income, or NT$3.14 per share, which suggested a return on equity of 10.12 percent, the statement added.
In the first quarter, the bank posted NT$2.2 billion in pre-tax profit, up 48 percent year-on-year, with earnings per share of NT$0.75.
The bank will apply for new branches in Taipei City and Hsinchu County, or Taichung County where the bank believes it is short of financial services, chairman Yung Hung-ching (榮鴻慶) said in the statement.
S&P maintains TSMC rating
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said yesterday that its rating on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not be immediately affected by the company’s planned rise in capital expenditure.
“In our opinion, the market’s recovery and TSMC’s technology leadership will support the company’s robust cash flow generation and strong balance sheet in the next few quarters,” S&P said in a statement.
TSMC said on Tuesday it planned to build its third 12-inch wafer fabrication unit in Taichung this year. The company increased its planned capital expenditure by 78 percent to US$4.8 billion this year from US$2.7 billion last year.
Government sells 20-year bonds
The government sold NT$40 billion of 20-year bonds at a yield of 1.998 percent at an auction yesterday, the central bank said.
The sale of the securities maturing in February 2030 attracted bids for 1.41 times the amount of debt on offer, the central bank said in a statement. The government last sold the same bonds in February, at a yield of 1.95 percent.
New A330 aircraft deployed
Singapore Airlines yesterday announced the deployment of its new A330-300 aircraft on its twice-daily flights between Taipei and Singapore.
After celebrations at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the inaugural flight SQ877 departed from Taipei at 3:08pm, the carrier said in a statement.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, declining NT$0.127 to close at NT$31.539. Turnover was US$1.588 billion.
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