TAIEX drops 1.10 percent
The TAIEX closed down 1.10 percent yesterday, below the psychological 8,000-point mark and one-year moving average of 7,933 points.
The market was dragged down by Asian stock declines, including China, after Chinese exports grew at a slower-than-forecast pace.
The TAIEX fell 88.46 points to close at the day’s low of 7,927.55, with trading volume plunging to NT$86.92 billion (US$2.94 billion), its lowest point since Jan. 17.
A total of 1,104 stocks closed up and 3,122 finished down, while 282 remained unchanged.
All of the eight major stock categories closed down, with the cement sector suffering the heaviest losses, finishing down 2.5 percent.
Asustek hiring 500 this year
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it plans to recruit 500 people this year to expand its domestic research and marketing workforce, the same number it hired last year.
The world’s fifth-largest PC vendor said it expects to add 250 people to its research and development units and 100 people to its marketing and sales departments, which will account for 70 percent of its total recruitment this year, a company statement said.
Separately, Acer Inc (宏碁) said it will continue to recruit new workers this year, but would use different methods than most other technology firms.
Henry Wang (汪島雄), Acer’s senior manager of public relations, declined to disclose how many people the company will be seeking to recruit.
Catcher’s bottom line improves
Catcher Technology Corp (可成), a metal casing supplier to Apple Inc, said on Friday its bottom line made a significant leap last year because of growing global demand for notebook computers and cellphones that used its products.
The company posted NT$10.68 billion in consolidated net profit last year, up 141 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$14.93, 124.2 percent higher than in 2010.
Consolidated sales grew 64.4 percent from 2010 to NT$35.91 billion last year, it said.
In the fourth quarter, Catcher posted NT$2.67 billion in net profit, down 27.9 percent from the third quarter but up 35.3 percent from a year earlier, and earnings per share were NT$3.58.
The company forecast that its bottom line would improve from quarter to quarter this year because of its clients’ increasing sales of ultrabook computers and smartphones, spurred by the launch of new models.
Sea water plant nearly finished
A deep sea water extraction plant, which will allow Taiwan to pump more seawater than ever before, has passed an initial inspection, the Water Resources Agency said on Sunday.
The facility will be able to extract more than 12,000 tonnes of sea water at a time from a depth of 700m, with water temperatures averaging 7.5oC, the agency said.
The agency has invested NT$443.5 million (US$14.78 million) to set up the plant in Taitung County that is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.
Deep sea water generally refers to seawater from below 200m, where almost no plankton can survive, it said.
NT dollar dips
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US currency yesterday, declining NT$0.058 to close at NT$29.562.
Turnover totaled US$726 million during the trading session.
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