TAIEX retreats on debt concern
Taiwanese share prices retreated yesterday after rallying a day earlier as lingering concerns over the debt problems in the eurozone hurt sentiment, especially after Italian bond yields hit new highs overnight, dealers said.
Though debt-ridden Italy and Greece have new governments, market confidence remained fragile as questions remained over whether and how they would deal with their debt and implement austerity measures to improve their financial conditions, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 34.59 points, or 0.46 percent, at 7,491.06, after moving between 7,475.33 and 7,528.78, on turnover of NT$71.61 billion (US$2.37 billion).
Chia Hsin to sell Anhui Conch
Chia Hsin Cement Corp’s (嘉新水泥) board decided to sell 4.605 million H-shares in Anhui Conch Cement Co (安徽海螺水泥), China’s biggest cement maker, Chia Hsin said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
The stake is worth HK$125 million (US$16.06 million) based on Anhui Conch’s closing share price on Monday, Chia Hsin said.
Tingyi hires Deutsche Bank
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (康師傅控股), the instant noodle maker that agreed to be PepsiCo Inc’s bottler in China, hired Deutsche Bank AG to advise on a loan of about US$150 million, two people familiar with the matter said.
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) is helping to arrange the three-year facility, which is being marketed primarily to lenders in Taiwan, said the people, who declined to be identified as details are private.
The loan has a margin of about 95 basis points over the London interbank offered rate and proceeds will be used for capital expenditure and general corporate purposes, the people said.
Hong Kong-listed Tingyi sells instant noodles, ready-to-drink tea and baked goods under the brand name Master Kong. It’s China’s largest maker of packaged food.
TWSE to give awards
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) will give excellence awards at its 50th anniversary celebrations on Nov. 26 to 10 listed Taiwanese companies in recognition of their efforts in compiling corporate social responsibility reports, it said yesterday.
The 10 award recipients are China Steel Corp (中鋼), Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶), United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), AU Optronics Corp (友達), Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Wistron Corp (緯創), CTCI Corp (中鼎工程) and Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋).
Deputy mayor unveils package
Taichung Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) announced yesterday that 10 local hotels had co-launched package tours that aim to boost tourism in the city.
Speaking at a press conference, Tsai said the city’s Tourist Hotel Association brought together the 10 hotels to roll out a package tour in which tourists could pay NT$4,888 for a two-day visit for two from yesterday to Dec. 15.
According to statistics from Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau, the hotel occupancy rate in Taichung reached 67 percent in August, behind the figures for Taipei and Hualien County.
NT dollar declines
The New Taiwan dollar fell against its US counterpart yesterday, down NT$0.045 to close at NT$30.210 as most of the currencies in the region weakened because of a fall in the euro amid renewed concerns over debt problems in the eurozone, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$948 billion during the trading session.
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OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to