Shares fall on profit-taking
Taiwanese shares closed down 1.12 percent yesterday as investors took profits from gains posted last week, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 72.41 points to 6,391.15 on turnover of NT$89.98 billion (US$2.73 billion).
The market opened 0.76 percent up on extended buying from last week and vaulted past the 6,500 point mark, dealers said.
However, profit-taking immediately followed as selling focused on large cap electronic stocks, while the financial sector outperformed the broader market on hopes for better business ties with China, they said.
“Resistance at around 6,500 points appeared strong. If the market repeatedly fails to overcome the technical hurdles, it is possible for the index to fall further on sour sentiment,” Grand Cathay Securities (大華證券) analyst Allen Lin said.
Lin said investors rushed to cut their holdings in electronic stocks, in particular highly priced ones, on concerns over whether the sector would continue to receive large orders in the third quarter as it did earlier this year.
VIA aims to raise NT$3.57bn
VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子), the nation’s largest designer of computer processors, plans to raise NT$3.57 billion (US$108 million) by selling 170 million new shares tentatively priced at NT$21 each, its exchange filing said yesterday.
Meanwhile, food conglomerate Uni-President Corp’s (統一企業) shareholders’ meeting yesterday authorized the board to raise no more than NT$2.5 billion through sales of new shares or the issuance of global depositary receipts, its exchange filing said.
Meanwhile, state-run Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控) yesterday promoted former executive vice president Ed Liu (劉茂賢) to president, replacing David Lee (李正義), who is retiring, according to an exchange filing.
Property prices to keep falling
Taiwanese property prices will continue to decline through the first quarter of next year, according to a government survey.
The property market’s leading indicator, which gauges conditions for the coming three quarters, dropped 1.76 percent in the three months to March, the fourth consecutive decline, the Ministry of the Interior said in a report yesterday.
“Housing demand hasn’t improved because of the record unemployment rate and record numbers of jobless people,” said Chang Chin-oh (張金鶚), director of the Taiwan Real Estate Research Center at National Chengchi University, which conducted the survey. “The supply side may experience some recovery as developers bet on warming ties between China and Taiwan. Still, the health of the property market depends on demand, not supply.”
NT dollar holds firm
The New Taiwan dollar was little changed on speculation that the central bank will intervene to curb gains as signs of a global economic recovery fuel demand for the nation’s assets.
The NT dollar, which reached this year’s high of NT$32.228 against the greenback on June 1, is headed for its first monthly drop since February. The central bank said last week it would intervene if capital flow led to a volatile exchange rate.
“Risk appetite has clearly stabilized,” said Thomas Harr, a currency strategist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “The negative is that there are expectations of the central bank of the Republic of China [Taiwan] intervening. That is limiting the upside.”
The NT dollar weakened by NT$0.18 to close at NT$32.943 versus the US currency, having fallen 0.9 percent since the end of last month. Harr predicted that the NT dollar would strengthen to NT$31.90 by the end of the year.
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