TAIEX closes down
Taiwan’s benchmark index closed 0.12 percent lower yesterday amid cautious sentiment after a rally in the previous session as investors took their cue from the US Federal Reserve Board’s concerns about the US economic climate, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 9.99 points to 7,704.52, on turnover of NT$103.31 billion (US$3.21 billion).
The market opened down 0.19 percent on Wall Street’s lackluster performance overnight and continued to move in a narrow range with many investors sidelined on fears that the bourse would suffer a technical pullback after it breached 7,700 points on Wednesday, dealers said.
A total of 1,575 stocks closed down and 1,570 up, with 394 unchanged.
Five-year bonds sold
The government sold NT$40 billion (US$1.25 billion) of five-year bonds at a yield of 1.011 percent at an auction yesterday, the central bank said.
The sale of the securities, which mature in July 2015, attracted bids 1.99 times the amount of debt on offer, the central bank said in a statement.
The government last sold bonds of a similar maturity in April, at a yield of 1.007 percent. That offer garnered a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.93.
CEPD solicits new investment
The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said yesterday that a global investment-solicitation initiative would be launched next month, aimed at attracting NT$1.8 trillion of investment capital over the next six years.
CEPD Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) said an inter-government agency committee to solicit global investment and a center offering services to potential foreign investors would open on Aug. 8.
Liu, who will head the committee, said it will submit an investment invitation plan by late September.
Keen High secures loan
Keen High Technologies Ltd (天鵬盛電子), chaired by Taiwanese entrepreneur Arthur Wang (王仁茂), yesterday secured a three-year, US$35 million syndicated loan from two domestic lenders, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), Taipei Fubon Bank said in a press statement.
Both lenders had previously oversubscribed the loan by 23 percent to US$43 million, the statement said.
China-based Keen High is the world’s third-largest manufacturer of MP3 and MP4 players with a 10 percent share of the global market of 1.8 million units annually.
The company’s shares, which currently trade on the Emerging Stock Market, are expected to move to the over-the-counter GRETAI Securities Market in the first half of next year, the bank said.
Local banks to open in China
Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) received regulatory approval in Taiwan to establish branches in China, the two lenders said in separate stock exchange filings yesterday.
Chang Hwa Bank said it was allowed to open a branch in Kunshan, while Taiwan Cooperative gained approval for a Suzhou branch, both in Jiangsu Province.
Meanwhile, state-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (臺灣菸酒) said in a statement yesterday that it gained government permission to establish representative offices in Xiamen, Fujian Province, and Hong Kong.
Taiwan dollar closes up
The New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.005 against the US dollar yesterday, to close at NT$32.187. Turnover totaled US$538 million during the trading session.
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