Ten-year bonds weaken
The nation’s 10-year bonds yesterday fell for a seventh day in the longest stretch of losses since 2006 on speculation that the US Federal Reserve may bring forward the timing of a rate increase as the economy recovers, while the New Taiwan dollar weakened 0.1 percent to NT$30.06 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
The yield on the nation’s 1.625 percent notes due in September 2024 climbed by 0.03 percentage points to 1.746 percent in when-issued trading, GRETAI Securities Market prices showed. That is the highest rate for benchmark 10-year securities since Sept. 14 last year.
The nation’s 1.125 percent debt due in July 2019 also declined, with the yield advancing four basis points to 1.273 percent, the highest for benchmark five-year notes since January 2009.
Taipower auctions bonds
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has raised NT$9.85 billion (US$327.7 million) through a sale of unsecured corporate bonds in four tranches via an auction on Wednesday.
Taipower said it auctioned NT$1.6 billion in three-year bonds and NT$1.5 billion in five-year debts. The company also sold NT$3.2 billion in seven-year bonds and NT$3.55 billion of 10-year bonds.
Based on the results of the auction, Taipower will pay a coupon rate of 1.10 percent on the three-year notes, 1.42 percent on the five-year bonds, 1.77 percent for the seven-year debts and 1.99 percent for the 10-year securities. In its previous sales in late June, Taipower sold five-year bonds at a yield of 1.42 percent and 10-year bonds at 1.98 percent.
TWSE and SGX study links
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Wednesday signed a letter of intent to study ways of linking the two stock markets.
The move, similar to China’s plans to connect the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and Shanghai, would provide members of TWSE and SGX a cost-effective and direct channel to trade, settle and customize stocks listed on each other’s exchange.
The cooperation between the two exchanges will be finalized in six months and subject to regulatory approvals in the two countries.
Qualcomm eyes Chinese market
US mobile phone chipmaker Qualcomm Inc yesterday said China’s anti-monopoly investigations would not affect its business strategy.
The company continues to place China as a high priority, said Peter Carson, a senior marketing director at Qualcomm.
Qualcomm is also committed to leading the long-term-evolution (LTE) telecom development in China, Carson told reporters during a teleconference.
To meet demand for entry-level LTE phones, Qualcomm on Wednesday launched several low-tier products, including a quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor to help Chinese handset makers enter the developing market.
Hotai optimistic on Yaris sales
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車) aims to sell 10,000 units of its new Yaris model within the next four months and about 20,000 units next year, with a 30 percent market share in the local hatchback segment, the company said on Wednesday.
The Yaris is a popular model in Taiwan, with accumulated sales reaching 113,000 units since 2006. The new model, with a recommended retail price that starts at NT$555,000 is 33cm longer than the old version and its trunk is 98 liters bigger, according to Hotai.
Hotai president Justin Su (蘇純興) told reporters on the sidelines of the product launch that he is optimistic about the local car market and expects sales to reach 410,000 units this year, the highest level since the record 514,627 units reached in 2005.
Pegatron August sales down
Contract notebook computer maker Pegatron Corp (和碩) on Wednesday reported that sales last month dropped 3.26 percent from July and 2.26 percent from a year earlier to NT$65.1 billion, bringing its cumulative revenue for the first eight months to NT$560.78 billion, down 0.72 percent year-on-year.
Yuanta Securities Corp (元大證券) said the decline was due to lower shipments of notebook computers in the month, down 8 percent to 600,000 units from July, and no contribution from its shipments for the iPhone 6.
“The fact that it did not ship iPhone 6 in August suggests the yield rate was still poor,” Yuanta analyst Vincent Chen (陳豐丰) said in a client note, adding that the company is facing downside risk in operating margin and net profit for this quarter.
FEDS consolidated sales grow
Far Eastern Department Stores Ltd (FEDS) (遠東百貨), the retail and department store arm of the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團), on Wednesday said its consolidated sales for last month reached NT$3.64 billion, up 2.38 percent month-on-month, but down 4.76 percent year-on-year.
In the first eight months of the year, the department store operator saw consolidated sales contract by 2.3 percent to NT$28.89 billion from the same period of last year.
Excluding sales generated by Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) and other subsidiaries, the “Far Eastern” brand sales for last month were NT$2.8 billion, up 8.81 percent from a year earlier, with cumulative sales rising 6.64 percent annually to NT$25.14 billion from January through last month.
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