Resistance limits TAIEX gain
The TAIEX moved in a narrow range to end higher yesterday after a strong rebound the previous day, but faced technical resistance at around the 7,500-point level, dealers said.
The market pushed higher as many investors still held high hopes that EU leaders would hammer out a solution to the eurozone’s debt problems at a summit today, they said.
However, the gains were capped after the index briefly breached the 7,500 mark as many investors retreated from the trading floor, they added.
The TAIEX closed up 20.91 points, or 0.28 percent, at 7,491.21, after fluctuating between 7,468.53 and 7,506.08, on turnover of NT$97.17 billion (US$3.22 billion).
TransAsia seeks investors
TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) yesterday said it would raise NT$898 million from two strategic foreign investors, Paradigm Transportation Holdings BV and Maurice Savart.
Paradigm Transportation is a subsidiary of Paradigm Venture Partners LLC, which owns 97.5 percent of TransAsia’s shares, while Savart is the director of Ms Consult International Ltd and owns the other 2.5 percent, the company said in a statement.
“Paradigm Transportation’s consulting team and Director Savart are both with business experience of international airlines, which would help boost TransAsia’s operations and expansion on international routes,” the company said.
Kingdee opens Taiwan branch
Kingdee International Software Group Co (金蝶國際軟件集團), a Chinese enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution supplier, has opened a branch in Taiwan targeting small and medium-sized enterprises.
Kingdee said the branch began operation on Monday. It said it planned to work with IBM Corp, Acer Inc (宏碁) and Systex Corp (精誠資訊) on products.
It also hinted at the possibility of expanding by buying Taiwanese companies.
Banks ink Chinese bank deal
Two Taiwanese lenders yesterday signed agreements with China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行), China’s second-largest bank by assets, to expand their business cooperation.
Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) and First Commercial Bank Co said in separate statements that they signed pacts with the Chinese bank covering cross-strait lending, trade and other financing activity, as well as information exchange and staff training.
Capital adequacy ratio lowered
The Financial Supervisory Commission has lowered the minimum capital adequacy ratio for wealth management units of brokerages that manage trust investments from 250 percent to 200 percent, it said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
Commission officials also said the government may ease restrictions to allow a maximum US$1 billion investment by China’s qualified domestic institutional investors (QDII), the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported. Total value of investments by Chinese institutions is currently capped at US$500 million.
Bank SinoPac sells debt
Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), a subsidiary of SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) sold NT$3.2 billion seven-year subordinated debt at 1.85 percent to boost its capital adequacy ratio and help expand operations, SinoPac Financial said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on Tuesday, adding NT$0.008 to close at NT$30.125. Turnover totaled US$817 million.
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The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by