TAIEX up on futures-led buying
The TAIEX yesterday closed above the 8,000 point mark on futures-led buying as investors pushed up share prices in the spot market in a bid to lock in profits in the stock futures market, dealers said.
The index finished up 68.22 points, or 0.85 percent, at 8,029 points on turnover of NT$98.79 billion (US$3.35 billion).
TSMC plans to sell
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, said yesterday it plans to sell 170 million shares of Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) for HK$ 79.7 million (US$10.3 million), according to a company statement.
TSMC would make HK$ 36.38 million in asset gains from the sale and would still hold a 3 percent stake in SMIC after the sale.
DelSolar posts loss
Local solar cell maker DelSolar Co (旺能光電) yesterday posted NT$1.91 billion in losses for last year because of a price decline.
The figure represented an improvement from losses of NT$2.54 billion two years ago.
China Steel’s revenue rises
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, yesterday said its pre-tax profits amounted to NT$1.44 billion last month on consolidated revenue of NT$332.51 billion, a company filing said.
In December last year, the company’s pre-tax profts totaled NT$826 million on a non-consolidated basis.
Non-consolidated revenue dropped 1.04 percent month-on-month to NT$15.24 billion.
Light rail system planned
Construction of a light rail system in New Taipei City is expected to start this year once the Executive Yuan has given the go-ahead, the Bureau of High Speed Rail said yesterday.
The New Taipei City government’s plans to build a light rail system that will serve as an extension from the Danshui Station of the Mass Rapid Transit system. The two lines will cover a total of 13.99 km and will have 20 stations as well as a maintenance workshop, the bureau said.
The first phase of construction will comprise a 9.55km section that will be composed of elevated and ground-level sections, the bureau added.
Unease when shopping online
Although Taiwanese consumers are shopping online more than ever, they still have doubts about security, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
Jointly conducted by US-based security software maker Symantec Corp and Taiwan’s technology blog Techbang, the survey found that 83.5 percent of respondents had used the Internet to shop.
However, more than 39 percent did not feel at ease when shopping online, despite taking precautions, and 57 percent insisted on shopping only on familiar and trustworthy Web sites, the survey said.
It also found that 87 percent of respondents used two or more devices to surf the Internet, with 33 percent using smartphones and tablets, even though these are less likely than personal computers to have security protection.
NT dollar up against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, up NT$0.086 to close at NT$29.600, reflecting strong foreign institutional buying on the local bourse, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$728 million during the trading session.
The local central bank intervened again late in the session to help the US dollar recoup its early losses in order to slow down the Taiwan dollar’s appreciation, dealers said.
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