Christmas hopes boost TAIEX
The TAIEX jumped technical hurdles ahead of 7,500 points in increased trade to end the session above that level, dealers said.
Buying focused on large-cap stocks in the high-tech sector on hopes that sales of electronics will be boosted by the upcoming Christmas shopping season, while select old-economy shares staged a technical rebound from their relatively low valuations, the dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 68.62 points, or 0.92 percent, at 7,503.55, after moving between 7,466.49 and 7,521.52, on turnover of NT$99.44 billion (US$3.42 billion).
Chipmaker to auction factory
Financially troubled memorychip maker ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) said it was scheduled to hold a second-round auction for an advanced 12-inch factory on Dec. 12 after an auction conducted earlier yesterday failed to find a winning bidder.
ProMOS said it would set the floor price unchanged at NT$19.2 billion for the new auction.
No bidders yesterday were qualified to sign a contract to buy the plant, as no bidder paid the NT$1.5 billion signing fee, ProMOS said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Firms retain ‘best brand’ titles
Seventeen companies have retained their title as the “best brand” in their respective business categories for the fifth year in a row, according to the results of an annual survey released yesterday by Business Today magazine.
Seven of the repeat winners were from Taiwan, namely EVA Airways (長榮航空), Chinatrust (中國信託), Sinyi Realty (信義房屋), Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信), Asustek (華碩), Giant (捷安特) and Taiwan Beer (台啤). The other 10 winners were Chanel, Tiffany, Montblanc, Nike, Hennessey, Johnnie Walker, Regent, Osim, Brands and Amway.
The survey, covering brands in 34 business categories, was conducted from July 26 to Aug. 27 among 1,500 businesspeople in Taiwan. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percent.
Reading of trade bill approved
The Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee on Wednesday approved the first reading of a bill to amend the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法), which aims to impose heavy punishment for leaking trade secrets.
The bill must still pass two screenings by the legislature in order to become a law.
It stipulates that those who attempt to steal or disclose trade secrets for personal profit may be subject to up to five years in prison and a fine of NT$1 million to NT$10 million. If the gains from the theft of trade secrets exceed the maximum fine of NT$10 million, the court could raise the fine by up to 300 percent at its discretion, the bill states.
Those found guilty of stealing or disclosing trade secrets to foreign countries, including China, Hong Kong or Macau, may be imprisoned for between one and 10 years and fined between NT$1 million and NT$50 million, according to the bill. If the gains exceed the maximum fine of NT$50 million, the court could increase it by two to 10 times at its discretion, it states.
Current and former civil servants with access to trade secrets could be sentenced up to 150 percent of the normal punishment, if they violate the law, the bill says.
US optimism boosts NT dollar
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.028 to close at NT$29.147 amid increasing optimism toward a possible solution to a pending “fiscal cliff” in Washington, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$786 million during the trading session.
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