Shares near one-month low
Taiwanese shares closed down 3.22 percent yesterday to a near one-month low as selling pressure continued after heavy losses the previous day, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 213.63 points to 6,414.39 on turnover of NT$159.12 billion (US$4.98 billion) — the lowest closing level since 6364.17 points on May 14.
Losers led gainers by 1,997 to 338 with 60 stocks unchanged.
Construction fell 6.41 percent, financials shed 4.56 percent and electronics dropped 3.03 percent.
“Investors’ confidence was shaken after yesterday’s sharp fall, so selling pressure was up either for profit-taking or damage control,” said Alex Huang (黃國偉) of Mega International Investment Services (兆豐國際投顧).
Tax revenues down last month
The national treasury reported NT$1,929 in tax revenues last month, down NT$55.4 billion, or 22.3 percent, from the same period last year as a result of a sharp decrease in income tax, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Income tax revenues fell 27.4 percent, or NT$27.9 billion, to NT$74 billion last month, while business tax revenues fell 22.8 percent to NT$35 billion. Commodity tax revenues fell 16.3 percent to NT$9.2 billion and land incremental tax revenues were down 47.7 percent to NT$3.1 billion.
Securities transaction levies gained 5.9 percent to NT$11.3 billion last month on active stock trading, the ministry said.
Altogether, the ministry collected NT$529.6 billion in tax revenues between January and May, accounting for 29.7 percent of the target for this year.
Photonics fair opens in Taipei
This year’s Photonics Festival opens today at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall I, covering solar energy, precision optics and other areas of photonics, the Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA, 光電科技工業協進會) said.
Manufacturers from Taiwan and China are expected to use the show to establish connections for future business, PIDA said yesterday.
With about 360 exhibitors and 800 booths, the show is expected to attract 35,000 visitors this year and generate more than NT$30 billion in business opportunities for the second half of this year.
ProMOS looking for partners
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), the nation’s third-largest computer memory chipmaker, is on the lookout for strategic partners, ProMOS spokesman and vice president Ben Tseng (曾邦助) said.
The debt-ridden chipmaker, which has obtained the support of credit banks to repay European convertible bonds due on June 17, said it was in talks with local and foreign companies in a bid to develop new business, Tseng said, but declined to elaborate.
Chunghwa mulls trial network
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecoms operator, may build a trial network using Chinese TD-SCDMA third-generation cellphone technology, Shen Fu-fu (沈馥馥), a spokeswoman for the Taipei-based company, said yesterday.
The remark confirmed a report on Monday that Chunghwa Telecom and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) could test the technology with the assistance of the government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院).
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.022 to close at NT$32.853. Turnover was US$1.054 billion.
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