TAIEX follows US rally
Wall Street’s overnight rally bolstered local shares yesterday, with the TAIEX closing higher on the back of big gains on electronics and financial stocks, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 94.52 points, or 1.11 percent, to end the day at 8,573.38 on turnover of NT$105.703 billion (US$3.66 billion).
Acer halts building auction
Acer Inc (宏碁), one of the world’s top three PC brands, yesterday said it was withdrawing an auction to sell an under-used office building in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
The bidding result was supposed to be announced today, but bidders had raised concerns about its viability because it comes with the condition that Acer would lease one floor of the building after the auction to continue housing the operations of its handheld devices division, which has more than 100 staff.
The building belonged to handheld device maker E-Ten Information System Co (倚天), which Acer acquired in March 2008.
Acer said in a statement it had decided to re-evaluate plans for the building, adding that it might be used to accommodate future expansion.
The company’s board approved a proposal in December to sell the building for NT$2.4 billion to NT$3 billion.
HTC falls on sales concern
HTC Corp’s (宏達電) stock plummeted to below NT$1,000 in mid-day trading yesterday and closed the day down 4.9 percent at NT$989 amid concern over second-quarter handset shipments.
Deutsche Bank AG said in a sales note that the Taoyuan-based company’s handset shipments in the current quarter might only reach 11 million — lower than its original estimate of 11.8 million.
HTC itself forecasts shipments for the second quarter to be about 11 million to 11.5 million units, according to an April 29 statement.
Tax on cars boosts Treasury
The Ministry of Finance yesterday said that the luxury tax introduced on June 1 had boosted the national treasury by NT$75.43 million as of June 21.
A majority of the tax revenue came from sales of luxury cars that cost more than NT$3 million each, the ministry said.
“A tax of 10 percent has been imposed on a total of 191 luxury cars as of June 21, earning NT$75.22 million for the treasury,” a Directorate General of Customs official said by telephone.
The rest of the revenue came from taxes levied on sales of luxury furniture, fur and land, the ministry said.
Debt to GDP ratio to fall: MOF
The central government budget deficit to GDP ratio is likely to fall to 2.4 percent this year from 3 percent last year, Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said in a briefing in Taipei yesterday.
TSRC plans bond issue
TSRC Corp (台橡) plans to issue as much as US$188 million in five-year unsecured convertible bonds at zero coupon to raise funds for overseas investments, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Taiwan, China banks ink deal
Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) signed a cooperation agreement with China Development Bank Corp (國家開發銀行), the Taipei-based lender said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar appreciated against the US dollar yesterday, gaining NT$0.042 to close at NT$28.92, on turnover of US$785 million.
[Note: The online version of TSRC brief has been updated to reflect the change of the issuer's name]
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