Typhoon mutes stock rally
Taiwanese shares closed up 0.21 percent yesterday as the impact from the nation’s worst flooding in 50 years, caused by Typhoon Morakot, hit gains from a Wall Street rally, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 14.22 points to 6,882.87 on turnover of NT$99.40 billion (US$3.03 billion).
“Despite the gains, buying was very limited on fears that the serious flooding will affect the domestic economy,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Allen Lin said.
Lin said the reduced daily turnover was evidence that investors were reluctant to enter the market.
Returning to the market yesterday after Morakot caused trading to be suspended on Friday, traders were lifted by better-than-expected jobs data out of the US before the weekend.
Against the uptrend, tourism stocks came under pressure as investors feared the flooding would impact on revenue, dealers said.
Lin said that while the broader market had fallen into a consolidation mode, investors were likely to make a quick profit by investing in construction stocks.
MediaTek near two-year high
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) rose to its highest level in almost two years in Taipei trading after Taiwan’s largest chip designer reported record monthly sales for last month.
The stock gained 4.7 percent to close at NT$495, the highest since Nov. 20, 2007, while the benchmark TAIEX index added 0.21 percent.
“The company has outperformed the entire semiconductor industry and is set to expand in the third quarter because of its presence in the emerging market and traditional strong sales in the third quarter,” said Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券) analyst George Chang (張家麒), who rates the firm at “buy.”
Mediatek said July consolidated sales climbed 26 percent to NT$10.8 billion (US$329 million), compared with the same month a year earlier. Sales were the highest since the company began recording consolidated sales in 2007, according to data on its Web site.
Sales surge cheers Compal
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶), the world’s second-largest maker of notebook computers, advanced the most in two weeks after it said July sales surged.
Compal Electronics rose 3.1 percent to close at NT$31.2, the most since July 28, after the benchmark TAIEX index added 0.21 percent.
The company reported on Friday that sales last month surged 52 percent to NT$52.32 billion from a year earlier and gained 24 percent from June’s NT$42.20 billion.
“Yes, the shares are moving because of the sales,” said Steven Tseng (曾續良), an analyst at ABN Amro Holding NV, who has a “hold” on Compal. “We didn’t expect the increase to be this big compared with June.”
Fubon to sell GDRs
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金), Taiwan’s second-largest listed financial services firm, said in an exchange filing that its board approved plans to raise as much as US$900 million from the sale of global depositary receipts (GDRs).
Tax take announced
The government collected NT$65.3 billion (US$2 billion) in tax revenue last month, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Business income tax rose NT$1.9 billion year-on-year to NT$3.3 billion last month, while business tax decreased NT$4.7 billion to NT$43.3 billion, the report showed. Commodity tax gained NT$1.2 billion to NT$11.1 billion from the same period last year, when the levy was cut amid surging fuel costs, the report said.
In total, the government collected NT$632.4 billion in tax in the first seven months, or 84.9 percent of the target, it said. The ministry said it would collect NT$16.1 billion in income tax next month, keeping the shortfall at NT$96.4 billion.
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