TAIEX closes up 0.52%
The TAIEX closed up 0.52 percent yesterday to stand above the 9,100-point mark, led by the electronics sector, as investors were cheered by a fresh high of more than two years on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.
The TAIEX rose 46.74 points to 9,102.33, after moving between 9,092.97 and 9,126.93, on turnover of NT$140.69 billion (US$4.85 billion).
The market opened up 0.55 percent, breaching the latest 9,100 point technical resistance barrier, and continued to move to the day’s high before some profit-taking set in to compromise the gains, the dealers said.
Large-cap high-tech stocks extended momentum from the previous session on the strength of their counterparts on Wall Street and gains posted by the American depositary receipts (ADRs) of local electronics firms, they said.
A total of 2,227 stocks closed up, 2,067 finished down, and 523 remained unchanged.
Mega’s China branch approved
The Financial Supervisory Commission on Tuesday approved the application by Mega International Bank (兆豐國際商銀), the banking subsidiary of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), to upgrade its representative office in Suzhou, China, into a branch.
The move made the state-run lender the first beneficiary of the early-harvest list under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in June last year to upgrade its representative office in less than the one-year normally required, the commission said.
So far, six Taiwanese banks have opened branch offices in different parts of China with a view to serving Taiwanese clients based there.
Central bank to auction CDs
The central bank will auction NT$100 billion worth of 364-day certificates of deposit (CD) and negotiable certificates of deposit (NCD) on Feb. 10 in yet another attempt to drain excess liquidity, the monetary policymaker said in a statement yesterday.
Financial institutions including banks, credit cooperatives, bills finance companies and Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) are invited to join in the auction, the statement said. The CDs and NCDs will be delivered on Feb. 11.
Since 2009, the central bank has auctioned longer-dated CDs and NCDs to help mop up idle funds that have been blamed for creating asset bubble pressure.
Run Run Shaw selling stake
Television Broadcasts Ltd co- founder Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫) is selling most of his stake in Hong Kong’s biggest TV company to investors, putting an end to speculation of a takeover battle.
Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd (邵氏兄弟香港), owned by the 103-year old Shaw, will dispose of its 26 percent holding to ITC Corp (德祥企業) chairman Charles Chan (陳國強), Cher Wang (王雪紅) and Providence Equity Partners, TVB said on Wednesday. Wang is chairwoman of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電).
Shaw’s foundation will also sell its 6.23 percent interest to independent third parties, the company known as TVB said, without giving price details.
NT dollar little changed
The New Taiwan dollar was little changed after approaching a 13-year high on suspected intervention by the central bank.
The NT dollar was trading 0.9 percent stronger two minutes prior to the 4pm close before the bank stepped in, according to traders.
The NT dollar closed at NT$29.31 against its US counterpart, compared with NT$29.3 on Wednesday, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency reached NT$29.006 on Jan. 13, the strongest level since October 1997.
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