■ Morgan Stanley: hold shippers
Morgan Stanley recommends investors hold shares of shippers such as China Shipping Container Lines Co (中海集裝箱運輸) and Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) amid optimism gains in freight rates will boost profit. Shipping demand is increasing as China's economy grows, Japan's Nihon Keizai newspaper reported last weekend. Japanese ocean freight companies are expected to raise container shipping charges by as much as 20 percent from Oct. 1, the newspaper said. "Freight rates seem to be the best indicator of stock prices," Jacqueline Kuek, a Morgan Stanley analyst, wrote in the broker's daily note. Next year "should still be a very profitable year for container shipping companies."
■ Chang Chun to build plants
Chang Chun Group (長春集團) will spend NT$20 billion (US$590 million) to build plants in a petrochemical zone developed by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑), a Taipei-based business daily reported, citing Formosa Plastics Corp President Lee Chih-tsun (李志村). Chang Chun sent the project to the Environmental Protection Administration and will proceed after the agency's assessment, the paper said, citing Chang Chun Group Chairman Lin Shu-hung (林書鴻). Chang Chun will use raw material produced by the Formosa Plastics Group to make chemicals used in engineering and some electronics such as displays and lights, the paper said, Formosa Plastics is expanding its petrochemical zone in Taiwan's Mailiao Township.
■ 87 million DVD players in works
Sichuan Changhong Electric Co (四川長虹) and hundreds of rivals in China may make 87 million DVD players this year, according to Global Sources Ltd. "TV manufacturers TCL Corp and Changhong are packaging DVD players and speaker systems with their big-screen TVs," Global Sources said in the report. For DVD players alone, China has 400 suppliers, which make eight out of 10 players shipped worldwide, said Bermuda-based Global Sources. About 30 Chinese makers of DVD players went bankrupt after profit fell in the first half, market researcher iSuppli Corp said. The market for DVD players for the full year will reach 111 million units. Growth in shipments of DVD players may slow to 22 percent this year as consumers switch to models that can record television and other video programs.
■ Foreign holdings tallied
Foreign institutional investors bought Taiwan shares with a net worth of NT$71.6 billion (US$2.11 billion) from Jan. 1 to Sept. 3, the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp reported yesterday. Last week alone, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth NT$62.77 billion and sold NT$53.12 billion, according to the exchange's statistics. As of the close of trading last Friday, the shares bought by foreign institutional investors were valued at NT$2.68 trillion, accounting for 21.54 percent of the total market value of listed stocks. The amount was NT$64.27 billion less than the figure recorded Aug. 27. The top three purchasers were Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) and Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), while the top three sellers were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and E. Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控).
■ NT dollar lower
The New Taiwan dollar traded lower against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.026 to close at NT$33.933 on the Taipei foreign exchange market, after the local currency on Friday strengthened to a six-week high of NT$33.862. Turnover was US$555 million.
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