TAIEX follows Wall Street down
The nation’s benchmark index pulled back yesterday after investors took their cue from a dive on Wall Street overnight amid renewed concerns over debt problems in the eurozone, dealers said. Jitters over Europe escalated after German Federal Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday a final solution to resolve the debt crisis was unlikely to be hammered out at a meeting scheduled by the European Council for later this month, they said.
Some bargain hunting emerged during the session, however, preventing the broader market from a steeper decline and helped the index remain above the 7,300-point mark at the end of the session, they added.
The TAIEX closed down 101.64 points, or 1.36 percent, at 7,359.48, after moving between 7,322.01 and 7,379.08, on turnover of NT$75.51 billion (US$2.51 billion).
Fixed networks not open to PRC
Ministry of Economic Affairs officials said yesterday that a new group of sectors to be opened for Chinese investment is being assessed, but will exclude type-one telecommunication enterprises.
Officials said these enterprises, which operate fixed networks and telephone services, would not be included due to policy considerations.
However, type-two telecommunications, which cover Internet service providers and prepaid card services, are already open to Chinese investment.
To date, about 42 percent of businesses in the manufacturing and service sectors are open to Chinese investors, while 24 percent of public infrastructure projects can accept investment from China.
During the first eight months of this year, the government approved 72 Chinese investment applications in Taiwan. The number was up 35.85 percent from a year earlier, but the total monetary value of these cases — US$31.5 million — represented a year-on-year drop of 56.98 percent.
Moody’s rates Sony ‘negative’
Ratings agency Moody’s yesterday lowered the outlook for Sony’s “A3” long-term debt rating to “negative,” as the global electronics giant faces weakening demand for LCD television sets.
Moody’s said the downgrade from stable was because the firm “faces significant cyclical headwinds” and “structural challenges in some of its core businesses.”
“Moody’s believes that adverse market conditions, such as weakening demand for major consumer electronics products, especially LCD TVs, and a stronger yen, are likely to pressure the company’s profitability and leverage,” it said in a statement.
FET launches shopping app
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (FET, 遠傳電信) yesterday launched a new mobile application to allow subscribers to shop for cosmetics from Far Eastern Department Stores (遠東百貨) and Sogo Department Stores (太平洋百貨) via their cellular phones.
With the new app, Far EasTone hopes to boost downloads from its mobile applications store, S Mart (S市集), by 20 to 30 percent, company president Yvonne Li (李彬) told reporters.
E.Sun Bank branch approved
E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) received approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission to set up a branch in Singapore, the Taiwanese regulator said in a statement yesterday.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.101 to close at NT$30.201, as the local bourse suffered heavy losses amid foreign institutional selling, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$717 million during the trading session.
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