Shares close flat
Share prices closed flat yesterday, reversing earlier losses brought about by a government plan to tax firms for their capital gains on stock investments.
The TAIEX index fell 3.28 points, or 0.04 percent, to 7,596.60 on turnover of NT$129.48 billion (US$4.05 billion).
Losers led gainers 1,477 to 1,096 with 213 stocks unchanged.
Shares opened 1.5 percent lower at 7,490.04 on concerns over reports of the government’s tax plan, dealers said.
“The market apparently over-reacted to the report so it was only reasonable for a rebound to come before the close,” Alex Huang (黃國偉) of Mega International Investment Services (兆豐國際投顧) said.
Huang expected the TAIEX to test 7,700 points later this week over anticipated positive earning reports from US firms.
Innolux surges 6.9%
Innolux Display Corp (群創光電), the world’s second-largest assembler of flat screen monitors, rose to its highest level in 13 months on speculation it won an order to supply components for Apple Inc’s iPhone.
Innolux surged by its 6.9 percent daily limit to NT$44.85 at the close, the highest since Sept. 9 last year.
“Innolux shares gained today because of a market rumor about them winning Apple iPhone orders,” said Calvin Shao, an analyst at Sinopac Securities Corp (永豐金證券) by telephone. “Actually, according to our company checks, they started shipping panel modules for iPhones at the end of June and early July.”
Innolux chief financial officer Jimmy Chiu (邱建銘) couldn’t be reached for comment. Jill Tan (陳玉麗), an Apple spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Bank to contribute to coffers
The central bank expects to contribute NT$180 billion (US$5.6 billion) to the government’s treasury next year, little changed from this year, it said yesterday.
The central bank said its contribution would account for 11.6 percent of central government income in next year’s budget. Governor Perng Fai-nan (彭淮南) will brief lawmakers on the plan today.
Flextronics to hire 6,000
Electronics manufacturing giant Flextronics International said yesterday it will hire more than 6,000 migrant workers in China this month because of a rise in demand ahead of Christmas.
The company will also take on an additional 1,000 workers in the next two months, said Valerie Kurniawan, senior communications director for Flextronics Asia.
“The demand is coming from all over the group, it’s all segments and industries,” Kurniawan said.
Flextronics makes parts and equipment for the automotive and mobile phone industries among others and its clients include Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and Microsoft Corp.
The company’s latest hiring spree has focused on its Zhuhai Industrial Park in the Pearl River Delta in the south of the country.
NT dollar unchanged
The New Taiwan dollar was little changed on speculation the central bank will seek to curb further appreciation after the currency last week reached a one-year high.
The NT dollar was at NT$32.302 versus the greenback, compared with NT$32.290 on Monday, Taipei Forex Inc said. It reached NT$31.995 on Oct. 1, the strongest level since the same date last year.
“Taiwan’s central bank has the means to deter the appreciation of its currency,” said Tigr Cheng (程裕城), a strategist at Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券). “The central bank can resort to oral warnings, and it’s effective.”
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