Shares extend their gains
Shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange extended their gains yesterday from the previous session after a summit of European leaders reached an agreement on dealing with the debt problems in the eurozone, dealers said.
However, the gains on the local bourse were capped by the nearest technical resistance level, after the TAIEX moved close to the 7,600-point mark, dealers said.
The benchmark index closed up 29.39 points, or 0.39 percent, at 7,565.21, after moving between 7,504.96 and 7,590.88 on turnover of NT$115.23 billion (US$3.82 billion).
LED firms’ shares plunge
Shares of LED firms plunged yesterday after investors were shocked by an announcement by Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子), a leading LED tester and packager, that it would implement a policy of unpaid leave from next month to counter slowing global demand, dealers said.
The Everlight move prompted investors to dump their shares in LED firms as they have become more pessimistic about the outlook for the world’s LED industry, which has been haunted by a production glut, they said.
Everlight shares fell 5.7 percent to NT$56.2, while other LED stocks also suffered heavy losses, with Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電) down 3.44 percent at NT$25.25 and Formosa Epitaxy Inc (璨圓光電) closing 6.38 percent lower at NT$20.55.
Patent award causes concern
The government will provide legal assistance to local touchscreen device producers to counter the decision by the US Patent and Trademark Office to award Apple a patent for its “slide-to-unlock” feature, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday.
Wu told a Cabinet meeting that the office’s decision would deal a heavy blow to local producers and instructed the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) to look into the case thoroughly.
The office granted Apple the patent it has been seeking since 2005. The patent details a method to unlock a smartphone by using a horizontal sliding motion on a touchscreen.
Wu said the government would stand by local businesses to help them safeguard their interests.
Chinatrust approves investment
Chinatrust Venture Capital Co’s (中信創投) board approved a plan to invest as much as US$2 million in an investment management company in Shanghai, parent Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) said in a statement yesterday.
Separately, First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) said it had been given approval by Financial Supervisory Commission to open a second leasing company in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, by the end of the year. The company, which currently operates a leasing company in Suzhou, said in as statement that it would invest US$30 million in the Chengdu unit.
Banks eye cross-strait market
The Financial Supervisory Commission has accepted applications from two Chinese lenders, Bank of China (中國銀行) and the Bank of Communications (交通銀行), to upgrade their representative offices to branches, according to a statement on the commission’s Web site yesterday
Meanwhile, China will review applications from four Taiwanese banks for their plans to set up branches and yuan and foreign currency businesses in the country, China Banking Regulatory Commission said in a statement.
NT dollar edges higher
The New Taiwan dollar rose against its US counterpart yesterday, adding NT$0.062 to close at NT$30.063. Turnover totaled US$800 million during the trading session.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six