TAIEX dips 1.13 percent
The nation’s benchmark index closed down 1.13 percent yesterday as institutional investors continued to unload non-tech and financial stocks, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 100.49 points to 8,782.72, after moving between 8,738.93 and 8,907.11, on turnover of NT$157.98 billion (US$5.3 billion).
The market opened up 0.25 percent and moved to the day’s high in line with other markets in the region, but profit-taking followed and continued to mount after the index briefly breached the strong technical resistance level at 8,900 points, the dealers said.
A total of 3,214 stocks closed down, 1,250 finished up and 312 remained unchanged.
Rexchip supplies Powerchip
Rexchip Electronics Corp (瑞晶) said it has resumed deliveries of memory chips to Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶) after the two companies renegotiated a supply contract.
Powerchip said on Dec. 31 that Rexchip suspended shipments after it failed to pay some bills because of “financial constraints.” Rexchip is a joint venture between Powerchip and Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc.
Rexchip stopped shipments for one week and recommenced supplying to Powerchip after the contract was renegotiated, the Taichung-based Rexchip said.
Powerchip will now only buy 2-gigabit chips, Rexchip said, adding that it used to buy both 1-gigabit and 2-gigabit chips.
Powerchip spokesman Eric Tang (譚仲民) confirmed the resumption of shipments, but declined to elaborate. The company, the nation’s largest memorychip maker by revenue, accounts for about 34 percent of Rexchip’s shipments.
IBT’s Chinese firm approved
The Industrial Bank of Taiwan (IBT, 台灣工銀) has won regulatory approval to set up a lease finance company in China through its venture capital unit, the Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement yesterday on its Web site.
It will be the first lease finance firm by a Taiwanese lender in China, the commission said in the statement.
The venture capital arm will be the holding company of the lease finance unit, it said.
Mega, PRC bank sign MOU
Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bank of China (中國銀行), parent Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) said in a statement yesterday.
The two lenders will cooperate on promoting syndicated loans, factoring and personnel training, the statement said.
CAL, EVA post robust sales
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, said on Thursday that sales last year reached NT$138.14 billion, up 40.8 percent from 2009.
Its rival, EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空) also reported that sales last year rose 42.5 percent to NT$104.41 billion — marking the first time that revenues surpassed the NT$100 billion mark.
Last month alone, CAL recorded NT$11.42 billion in sales, up 4.8 percent from a year earlier, while EVA registered NT$8.69 billion in revenue, up 10.4 percent.
“In addition to a global economic recovery, the booming tourism business across the Taiwan Strait served as the driver of the two carriers’ sales growth,” MasterLink Securities (元富證券) analyst Tom Tang said yesterday.
However, Tang warned that rising world crude prices could impact on the bottom lines of global carriers.
According to Hua Nan Securities (華南永昌投顧), fuel expenses account for more than 40 percent of CAL’s and EVA’s operating costs.
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