TAIEX falls below 7,400 mark
The TAIEX came under pressure and fell below 7,400 points yesterday amid lingering concerns over the global economy after the US reported a contraction in its manufacturing activity last month, dealers said.
Selling was seen almost across the board amid cautious sentiment toward the economic fundamentals, while the construction sector outperformed the market to close higher on expectations that rising consumer prices would promote investors to buy property assets to fight inflation, they said.
The weighted index closed down 83.91 points, or 1.13 percent, at 7,367.44, after moving between 7,364.68 and 7,429.93, on turnover of NT$72.45 billion (US$2.43 billion).
Foreign reserves grow
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves increased by US$3.12 billion from the previous month due to gains in the value of non-US dollar assets and higher returns on investments, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.
Reserves totaled US$394.23 billion at the end of last month, compared with US$391.11 billion the previous month, the central bank said.
Strong demand for T-bills
The central bank yesterday said it sold NT$15 billion of 91-day Treasury bills amid strong demand by banks, with the interest rate reaching 0.63 percent, lower than the similar-maturity bills it sold in April with a yield of 0.8 percent.
The bid-to-cover ratio of the 91-day bills sale, an indication of demand, was 4.56 of bids totaling NT$68.35 billion, the central bank said in a statement. Banks acquired all of the 91-day bills sold yesterday as they are swamped with excess liquidity.
The central bank handled the auction of Treasury bills on behalf of the Ministry of Finance to help meet short-term capital needs and repay debt.
Ten banks are candidates
Ten domestic banks that have set up branches in China will be eligible to be selected as Taiwan’s currency settlement bank with China, the central bank said on Tuesday, after the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on currency settlement on Friday last week.
Taiwan will select a Chinese bank as a settlement bank for NT dollar transactions, while China will choose a Taiwanese bank as a settlement bank for yuan transactions. Each side’s selection will need to be approved by the other side.
MOEA official leads delegation
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday that Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) would lead a delegation to the US on Wednesday in a bid to attract potential US investors to Taiwan.
The delegation also aims to recruit specialists in a wide range of fields, including the semiconductor, optoelectronics, solar energy and software development industries, the ministry said.
Cho will lead the delegation to New York and the Silicon Valley during the eight-day trip trip, and delegation members are expected to visit more than 10 US companies to promote investment in Taiwan, the ministry said.
The ministry said a total of 32 high-tech firms will join the recruitment event and the companies will offer about 300 jobs for senior manager positions, engineers, research and development personnel, and marketing specialists and market information researchers, the ministry said.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.003 to close at NT$29.905. Turnover totaled about US$573 million during the trading session.
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day