TAIEX climbs 1.69 percent
The TAIEX closed up 1.69 percent yesterday, as investors took their cues from gains in foreign markets the past two days while the local market was closed because of a long holiday weekend.
The TAIEX closed 146.85 points higher, ending at 8,851.98, after moving between 8,767.21 and 8,860.02, on volume of NT$137.95 billion (US$4.76 billion).
A total of 2,866 stocks closed up, 1,512 finished down and 496 remained unchanged.
Foreign exchange reserves up
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves rose to a fresh high of US$392.63 billion at the end of last month as the weak US dollar helped boost the conversion value of assets in other currencies, the central bank said yesterday.
The increase represented a 0.5 percent increase of US$1.94 billion from US$390.69 billion in foreign exchange reserves in February, the bank’s data showed, while helping maintain the nation’s position as the world’s fourth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, behind China, Japan and Russia.
Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Lin Sun-yuan (林孫源) said returns from the management of foreign exchange reserves also helped increase the reserves.
The market value of security investments and deposits held by foreign portfolio investors at the end of last month reached US$237.7 billion, equivalent to 61 percent of foreign exchange reserves, up 1 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the bank’s data.
Acer begins to stabilize
Acer Inc (宏碁) has begun to stabilize its operations and slumping stock price after the surprise replacement of its chief executive Gianfranco Lanci last Thursday, the company’s vice president said yesterday.
Scott Lin (林顯郎), corporate vice president and president of Acer’s Taiwanese operations, said some general managers retained their positions following the departure of Lanci.
Firms announce bond sales
Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) plans to sell NT$6 billion of five-year unsecured bonds at an interest rate of 1.44 percent to raise long-term funds and to improve its financial structure, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
Acelon Chemicals & Fiber Corp (聚隆纖維) also plans to sell NT$300 million three-year secured convertible bonds to purchase equipment and repay bank loans, the Changhua-based company said in a separate statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
China Life acquisition approved
China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽), a Taipei-based life insurer, said it received approval from China Insurance Regulatory Commission to buy a stake in Shanghai-based Pacific Antai Life Insurance Co (太平洋安泰人壽), according to a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
Dish says it won Blockbuster bid
Dish Network Corp said yesterday that it won an auction for Blockbuster Inc with a bid valued at US$228 million in cash.
As of Tuesday, the satellite TV company, billionaire investor Carl Icahn and a group of debt holders were the three remaining bidders for the Dallas movie-rental chain, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization protection in September last year.
Dish’s bid was for US$320 million, but the value decreases to US$228 million after adjusting for available cash and inventory.
NT dollar up against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, up NT$0.17 to close at NT$29.150.
Turnover totaled US$1.213 billion during the trading session
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