TAIEX closes up 0.78%
The TAIEX closed up 0.78 percent yesterday, cheered by Wall Street gains on Friday and stronger Asian stock markets in the morning, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 60.74 points, to close at 7,890.95, after fluctuating between 7,841.83 and 7,902.56, on turnover of NT$127.78 billion (US$4.01 billion).
The market opened up 0.63 percent after Wall Street shares were boosted by positive job figures on Friday, with most local electronic shares performing quite well, dealers said.
A total of 2,497 stocks closed up and 1,299 down, with 337 remaining unchanged.
HTC revenues dip
HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s leading maker of smartphones, yesterday said revenues edged lower by 1.8 percent to NT$24.2 billion last month from July.
On an annual basis, last month’s revenues more than doubled from NT$11.23 billion in the same month of last year.
Cumulative consolidated revenues from January to last month were NT$ 147.7 billion, up 61.16 percent from last year.
HTC is forecast to hit NT$70 billion for third-quarter sales, and 70 percent of the target has been achieved judging from July’s and last month’s figures.
AmTRAN acquires loans
AmTRAN Technology Co (瑞軒科技) signed NT$3.8 billion of three-year syndicated loans with five banks, participating lender Mega Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
The maker of Vizio televisions will use the funds to repay debts and to strengthen medium-term working capital, according to the statement.
The other lenders include Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商業銀行), E Sun Commercial Bank Ltd (玉山銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), and Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank Ltd ( 上海商業銀行).
Central bank issues CDs
The central bank issued NT$469.5 billion in certificates of deposit (CD) yesterday, less than the NT$474.9 billion that matured, it said in a statement on its Web site.
The central bank sold 30-day CDs at an interest rate of 0.63 percent, 91-day at 0.67 percent, and 182-day at 0.77 percent, according to the statement.
Talks to price iron monthly
The China Iron & Steel Association (中國鋼鐵工業協會) is in talks with iron ore producers seeking to price the raw material on a monthly basis, according to China Minmetals Corp (中國五礦公司), the People’s Republic of China’s biggest metals trader.
A move to monthly pricing from quarterly would increase the chance of Chinese steelmakers defaulting on contracts, Minmetals’s vice president Feng Guiquan (馮貴權) said yesterday at a conference in Beijing.
NT dollar up against greenback
The NT dollar gained the most in five weeks before data this week that economists forecast will show exports rose for a 10th successive month last month.
The currency rose for a fourth straight day after overseas investors bought US$221 million more shares than they sold yesterday, their biggest net purchase in more than a month.
The Ministry of Finance was due to announce today that overseas shipments increased 25 percent, compared with a gain of 38.5 percent in July, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
The NT dollar climbed 0.2 percent to NT$31.95 against its US counterpart as of the 4pm close, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
The currency earlier rose as much as 0.5 percent, the most since last Thursday, to NT$31.86.
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