Wall Street sparks rally
Taiwanese shares closed up 3.9 percent yesterday, boosted by a strong Wall Street rebound and a sharp decline in oil prices, dealers said.
The weighted index finished 263.87 points higher at 6,974.51, after moving between 6,859.97 and 6,976.96 on turnover of NT$106.3 billion (US$3.5 billion).
The surge in Taiwan — which outperformed the Tokyo and Seoul markets — came on the back of a 22-month low the previous session.
Financials, hit hardest the previous session amid fears of exposure to struggling US mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, led the charge and the sector finished 5.68 percent higher.
“Local investors took a cue from Wall Street’s overnight rally, which staged a strong rebound as worries about the US mortgage crisis were eased,” President Securities Corp’s (統一證券) Johnny Lee said. “That’s why financials led the rebound ... certainly the steep fall in oil prices was another positive factor taken into consideration by investors.”
Asahi scouting for sites
Asahi Glass Co of Japan, the world’s second-largest thin-film transistor liquid-crystal-display (TFT-LCD) glass-substrate maker, said yesterday it has been scouting sites for new production lines in Taiwan, but has no substantial capacity expansion plan yet.
Asahi Glass Fine Techno Taiwan Co (旭硝子發殷科技), a local operation fully owned by Asahi Glass, yesterday denied a report in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News that the company planned to spend NT$12 billion building a new next-generation furnace in order to meet customer demand for bigger flat-panel televisions.
The firm supplies glass to local LCD makers, such as AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子).
The report also said the company planned to gradually expand its capacity by adding more furnaces in Yunlin County.
Cavium to buy Star assets
US semiconductor company Cavium Networks Inc yesterday said it had signed an agreement with local chip designer Star Semiconductor Corp (陞達半導體) to buy certain assets and businesses for US$9 million in cash.
Cavium provides chips used in networking, communications, security and wireless applications.
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter this year, a company statement said.
Star Semiconductor, based in Hsinchu, designs integrated ARM-based SOC processors for the broadband and connected home markets. Local chip designers Mediatek Inc (聯發科) and PixArt Imaging Inc (原相) hold unspecified stakes in Star Semiconductor.
CPC signs Canadian pact
State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian-based Indian Oilsands Corp yesterday, paving the way for a possible partnership on oil sands development in Saskatchewan Province, Canada.
The memorandum was signed in Taipei by CPC Vice President Arthur Kung (孔祥雲) and Ken Thomas, a representative of Indian Oilsands.
CPC officials said the project was part of the company’s efforts to diversify its energy sources and stabilize domestic energy supplies in order to cope with the continued rise in global oil prices.
CPC plans to invest NT$24 billion in Canadian oil-sands exploration and development over the next five years.
NT dollar on the rise
The NT dollar continued to gain ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, advancing NT$0.023 to close at NT$30.359. Turnover was US$847 million.
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