Dealers look to global markets
The TAIEX closed little changed yesterday as worries remained over further volatility in global financial markets, in particular Wall Street, which suffered a pullback overnight, dealers said.
While selling focused on select old economy stocks on profit-taking after recent strong showings, certain electronics shares, including flat-panel firms, attracted buying to lend some support to the broader market, they said.
The weighted index ended up 4.73 points, or 0.06 percent, at the day’s high of 7,434.93, on turnover of NT$69.06 billion (US$2.37 billion).
Stock exchange limits meetings
In order to allow shareholders to attend annual shareholders’ meetings more conveniently, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said it would allow no more than 120 listed companies to hold the meetings on a single day.
The limitation, which will be effective from next year, will also be applicable to listed companies which have paid-up capital of more than NT$10 billion and more than 10,000 investors using imperative electronic voting.
The limitation will not apply to companies that voluntarily adopt electronic voting.
Manufacturing sales fall again
Sales generated by the manufacturing sector in the third quarter of this year fell more than 3 percent from a year earlier amid a slowdown in the economic fundamentals at home and abroad, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday.
The sector posted third-quarter revenue of NT$3.24 trillion, down 3.43 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the ministry.
However, the figure was 0.11 percent higher than in the second quarter, when sales in the domestic manufacturing sector fell 5 percent from a year earlier.
Hon Hai enters China TV market
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) is working with two of China’s top television brands — Skyworth (創惟) and Haier (海爾) — to sell its 60-inch LED TVs in China, market sources said yesterday.
The sources said the large-sized LED TVs, which use flat panels made by Sharp’s 10th-generation panel plant in western Japan, have gone on sale under the Skyworth and Haier brands in China.
Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) owns a 46.5 percent stake in Sharp’s flat-screen plant.
Through the partnership with Chinese brands, Hon Hai is expected to ship 10,000 to 20,000 of the big-screen TVs a month to China by the end of this year, the sources said.
Hon Hai declined to comment on the news.
Asustek positive over Padfone
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) expects to sell 150,000 units of its second-generation Padfone in Taiwan by the second quarter of next year, which would make it the company’s best-selling smartphone in its home market.
Asustek’s corporate vice president Benson Lin (林宗樑) told a media briefing yesterday that demand in Taiwan for the Padfone 2 had exceeded expectations since it was launched on Oct. 16. More than 25,000 of the large-screen smartphones have been sold since then in the country, Lin said.
The hybrid device has already hit stores in Taiwan, Italy, Russia, Japan and Hong Kong, and will go on sale in more than 20 countries by the end of the current quarter, said Lin, who declined to disclose global sales numbers.
NT$ down against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.046 to close at NT$29.175.
Turnover totaled about US$732 million during the trading session.
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