Policy hopes boost TAIEX
Taiwanese share prices closed 1.69 percent higher and above 8,000 points yesterday on expectations the government would make more policy changes favoring closer economic ties with China, dealers said.
Property-backed shares gained on a report that the government is in the final stages of discussions about a further opening of the real estate sector to Chinese investors, they said.
The weighted index closed up 133.51 points at the day's high of 8,024.41, off a low of 7,932.79, on turnover of NT$121.05 billion (US$3.82 billion).
"More reports about the government planning to relax its China policy ahead of next month's presidential election added fuel to a pre-election upswing," Taiwan International Securities (金鼎證券) analyst Arch Shih (施薄元) said.
Shih said it was doubtful whether after its recent big jump the Taiwan dollar would make more gains in the near term.
He also cautioned that the appreciation since the end of the Lunar New Year holiday had yet to be matched by a return of foreign capital to the equities market.
"It is not clear if this recent capital inflow is intended mostly for forex gains or simply being parked here until a more attractive time for buying shares comes around," he said.
Foreign bank eyes Taiwan
The Financial Supervisory Com-mission said yesterday it was reviewing the application of a European bank that intends to set up branches in Taiwan.
The bank is a prestigious financial institution for foreign exchange and derivatives trading and asset management, commission Vice Chairman Susan Chang (張秀蓮) said, declining to identify the bank until the application had been approved.
Local regulations stipulate that only banks that rank in the top-500 league globally are qualified to apply for establishing branch offices.
Chang said that three other foreign banks had expressed an interest in opening branches in Taiwan.
Agricultural losses tallied
Taiwan's agricultural losses because of the recent cold spell have risen to NT$87.17 million, with high-grafted pears suffering the heaviest damage, statistics released by agriculture authorities showed on Monday.
The statistics showed that fishery losses as a result of the cold temperatures in recent weeks amounted to NT$85.43 million and that Penghu County alone had suffered losses totaling NT$84.81 million.
UPS shipping volume up
United Parcel Service (UPS) saw its shipping volume increase by almost 20 percent year-on-year last year in Asia, thanks to the robust increase in demand from China and India.
Shipping volumes grew by more than 30 percent in China and about 25 percent in India in the said period, a company press release said yesterday.
UPS said that its international parcel service sales in the fourth quarter last year totaled US$2.87 billion, up 19.4 percent.
The company's earnings per share during that period increased 8.7 percent to US$1.13 per share.
While Taiwan has also benefited from the robust expansion in regional business, UPS said that the scheduled opening of a shipping hub in Shanghai was expected to bring about even greater growth to Taiwan.
NT makes new gains
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday gained NT$0.048 to trade at NT$31.698 against the US dollar on turnover of US$994 million.
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