SHARE PRICES CLOSE HIGHER
Share prices closed 0.22 percent higher yesterday as a late sell-off wiped out early gains fueled by Wall Street’s overnight rally and a strong performance on regional markets, dealers said.
The weighted index edged up 10.88 points at 4,942.72 on turnover of NT$67.41 billion.
Gainers outnumbered losers 839 to 598, while 421 shares were unchanged. CHUNGHWA TERMINATES CONTRACT
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan’s largest phone operator, said it has automatically terminated a foreign exchange derivatives contract that it signed last year.
The NT dollar fell past NT$32.7 per US dollar yesterday, triggering an automatic termination of the contract, the Taipei-based company said in an e-mailed statement.
Previous mark-to-market unrealized losses from the deal will be written off this month while the company will also receive an NT$30 million cash inflow from the final settlement, the statement said.HSBC CELEBRATES GROWTH
Amid a protracted financial downturn, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC, 匯豐銀行) yesterday celebrated annual double growth in HSBC Direct accounts — a banking service launched last September.
Michael Zung (陳民康), the bank’s senior vice president, said that the bank expects to see more growth in Direct accounts in the coming year while aiming at the nation’s 5 million Internet banking users.
The bank’s Direct accounts allow depositors to set up subaccounts to manage their savings while providing an online banking platform that allows clients to purchase mutual funds or insurance products.
The bank also boasts a 24 percent monthly growth in fund investments that Direct account holders will put down on a monthly basis for a fixed amount.
The bank is slated to launch local currency-denominated time deposits to attract more account holders after it imposed a higher interest rate for bank savings.
FDI APPLICATIONS DOWN
The total number of applications of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approved in the first nine months of the year was 1,479, down 8.14 percent from the same period a year ago. The amount of FDI approved during the same period was US$5.27 billion, plunging 48.17 percent year-on-year.
Emile Chang (張銘斌), deputy executive secretary of the Investment Commission, said yesterday the decline in the amount of FDI approved was due to a decrease in mergers and acquisitions and the ripple effects of the global financial crisis and liquidity crunch.
In the first nine months of the year, the total number of applications of outward investment approved to all regions except China was 307, down 16.35 percent year-on-year. The amount of outward investment approved went up by 5.43 percent year-on-year to reach US$3.28 billion.
During the same period, the total number of applications of investment to China was 390, down 34 percent year-on-year. The amount approved was US$6.88 billion, up 8.18 percent year-on-year.
CAL OFFERS STAFF UNPAID LEAVE
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), Taiwan’s largest carrier, has offered staff unpaid leave and trimmed its cargo capacity by 10 percent because of slowing demand.
“We’re trying to cut spending,” Bruce Chen (陳鵬宇), a spokesman, said yesterday.
China Airlines’ sales have fallen for two straight months as the global credit crunch curbs passenger travel and the US housing market collapse stunts sales of semiconductors and flat-panel displays. Taiwan’s air-cargo demand is 20 percent lower than a year earlier, Chen said.
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