Inflation pressure easing
Global inflationary pressure is easing as the world economic recovery slows, the central bank said in a report released yesterday, which central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) will present to the legislature tomorrow.
Demand for the US dollar has contributed to a decline in Asian currencies, the central bank said, adding that it would step into the market to curb irregular swings in the New Taiwan dollar.
The nation’s real-estate market has also cooled since June, the bank said.
Polaris credit rating raised
Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評), the local arm of Standard & Poor’s, yesterday upgraded its long and short-term credit ratings for Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券) by one notch to “twAA-” and “twA-1+” respectively, upon the completion of a share swap scheme to make the brokerage a full subsidiary of Yuanta Financial Holdings Co (元大金控).
The outlook on Polaris Securities’ long-term rating is positive, the ratings agency said in a statement.
Polaris Securities’ credit profile could improve further with access to the resources of Yuanta Financial, Taiwan Ratings said.
The brokerage will be a core member of the conglomerate because its business provides integral support to the group’s -securities-centric strategy, it added.
Yuanta Financial’s acquisition of Polaris Securities received shareholder and regulatory approval on June 28 and Aug. 29, respectively.
Bank to sell NT$100bn in CDs
The central bank will auction NT$100 billion (US$3.27 billion) in 364-day certificates of deposits (CD) on Friday and issue the debt on Oct. 11, it said in a statement yesterday.
The upcoming sale of the 364-day CDs will mark the central bank’s 19th such sale since April last year, as it seeks to absorb excess funds in the market. Its past 18 sale of such instruments has the equivalent of increasing banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 4.5 percentage points.
The central bank’s CDs are issued to eligible financial institutions, including commercial banks, credit cooperatives, trust investment firms, bills finance companies and Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政).
The bank now has NT$1.2 trillion in outstanding 364-day CDs.
New iPhone coming next month
Apple Inc’s next iPhone is expected to be available in Taiwan as early as next month, according to electronics distributor Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強國際).
The new handset will be sold through the nation’s three largest operators, Dicky Chang, general manager of Group Telecom Business Development at Taipei-based Synnex, said in an interview yesterday.
Apple has not yet confirmed the shipment date for Taiwan, Chang said.
NT dollar slides
The New Taiwan yesterday fell NT$0.081 to close at NT$30.587 against the US dollar.
Turnover was US$910 million.
TAIEX plunges almost 3%
Taiwan’s benchmark index plunged 2.93 percent yesterday, dragged down by Wall Street’s drop of more than 2 percent on Friday, which fueled concerns that the global economy might be headed toward a recession.
The TAIEX closed down 211.41 points to end at 7,013.97 on turnover of NT$80.45 billion.
All eight main sectors on the exchange closed down, with the financial sector suffering the heaviest losses, plunging 5 percent.
A total of 890 stocks closed up, 2,843 were down, and 312 remained unchanged.
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