TAIEX down on debt worries
The local bourse took a beating yesterday amid renewed concerns over debt problems in Europe after the countries in the eurozone failed to reach a consensus on how to bail out Greece, dealers said.
The TAIEX fell 177.02 points, or 2 percent, to close at the day’s low of 8,654.43 points, off a high of 8,739.84, on turnover of NT$105.10 billion (US$3.65 billion).
Hon Hai falls further
Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, extended their losses yesterday after the stock fell below the psychologically important NT$100 mark a day earlier, dealers said.
Hon Hai fell 1.11 percent to close at NT$98.40 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Investors seemed wary of global demand for high-tech gadgets, with the US economy showing signs of a slowdown and Europe in stalemate for solutions to its debt crisis, they said.
E. Sun China branch approved
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday approved a plan by E. Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), the banking unit of E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), to upgrade its Chinese representative office in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, into a branch.
The financial regulator said it decided to give the go-ahead because E. Sun Bank, which set up the representative office in April last year, has met the one-year requirement for upgrade into a branch office. E. Sun is the third Taiwanese lender to establish a branch in China.
85?C opens 200th China outlet
Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), which operates the popular 85?C (85度C) bakery-and-coffee chain in Taiwan, China, Australia and the US, said yesterday it opened its 200th outlet in China last week, paving the way for further expansion in the fast-growing market.
The latest outlet was opened in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province — its first inland outlet compared to its earlier foothold along the southeastern coast, according to a company statement.
The company will soon launch stores in other inland cities such as Wuhu, Wuhan and Hefei.
Net asset position expands
Taiwan’s international investment recorded a net asset position of US$656.9 billion at the end of last year, which was the sixth-largest in the world, after Japan, China, Germany, Switzerland and Hong Kong, the central bank said in a report on Wednesday.
Its Net asset position grew by US$49 billion, or 8.1 percent, from the previous year, the report said.
At the end of last year, Taiwan’s total external assets amounted to US$1.378 trillion, increasing by US$136.2 billion, or 13.6 percent, from the level at the end of 2009, according to the report.
The bank attributed the rise to an increase in the portfolio investment abroad by the private sector and a surge in reserve assets.
The report shows that Taiwan’s total external liabilities increased by US$87.2 billion to US$480.9 billion last year, up 22.1 percent from a year ago.
PRC official attends IT forum
Chinese Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xi Guohua (奚國華) arrived in Taiwan yesterday to attend a cross-strait information and communications technology (ICT) forum today and tomorrow.
Xi will deliver a keynote speech at the forum today. He is also expected to meet with executives from HTC Corp (宏達電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩).
NT dollar falls lower
The New Taiwan dollar dropped NT$0.145 against the US dollar to close at NT$29.005 yesterday on turnover of US$1.352 billion.
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