TAIEX down 0.3 percent
Taiwanese shares closed down 0.3 percent on profit-taking yesterday following a surge during the previous session, dealers said.
The weighted index closed down 20.02 points at 7,065.65, off a low of 6,998.13 and high of 7,098.68 on turnover of NT$88.52 billion (US$2.91 billion).
Advancers and decliners were even at 1,017, while 471 stocks were unchanged. A total of 28 stocks closed limit-up, while 31 were limit-down.
“Investors locked in profits after yesterday’s rally, but the sentiment has started to change, becoming a bit bullish if compared with pessimism prevailing in the market over the past few weeks,” said Michael Hsu (�?@) from Taiwan Life Asset Management (台壽保投信).
“Except notebook-related companies, most electronic industries are facing uncertainty regarding their outlook in the third and fourth quarter,” he said.
Hannstar inks Hitachi deal
Hannstar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶), the nation’s fourth-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays (LCD), extended a patent agreement with Japan’s Hitachi Displays Ltd for the design of screens used in LCD monitors and TVs.
Hannstar and Hitachi Displays, a wholly owned unit of Hitachi Ltd, signed the six-year contract on cross licensing of LCD patents yesterday, Hannstar said in a filing to the stock exchange. The Taoyuan-based company did not disclose financial terms.
The agreement has been backdated to Jan. 1 and will last until the end of 2012, the statement said. Hitachi and Hannstar said in November 2002 they will share patents that will last through June.
Hannstar also has an LCD patent agreement with Sharp Corp.
Taipower sells bonds
State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) sold NT$9.5 billion in bonds to help fund new generators and transmission lines.
Taipower sold NT$2.55 billion in three-year notes, NT$3.9 billion in five-year bonds and NT$3.05 billion in seven-year debt, the utility said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Taipower could sell as much as NT$80 billion of bonds this year to help fund spending of about NT$160 billion on power plants and networks this year, company spokesman Clint Chou (周義岳) said.
Including yesterday’s transactions, the company has sold NT$40.5 billion in debt since the start of this year, Chou said.
The utility has an Aaa.tw rating from Moody’s Investors Service, the highest for any Taiwanese company from the US credit rating firm.
CCP to look at economy
China’s political elite will meet this week to discuss key economic policy for the rest of the year amid concerns over slowing growth, high inflation and weak exports, a report said yesterday.
The gathering of the key Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo will follow visits by top leaders to the country’s main economic strongholds and export bases in recent weeks, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unnamed sources.
“Their missions to related regions were urgently planned to prepare them with first-hand information on the latest developments in the economic powerhouses,” a government economist was quoted as saying.
China’s economy grew 10.1 percent in the second quarter, down from 10.6 percent in the first quarter, figures released last week showed.
NT drops against greenback
The NT dollar dropped NT$0.018 to close at NT$30.381 against the US dollar on the Taipei Forex Inc yesterday.
Turnover was US$696 million, up from US$686 million the previous day.
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