Shares hit 19-month high
Share prices closed higher yesterday, with the TAIEX rising 66.91 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 8,356.89 — the highest level since June 10, 2008.
The TAIEX opened at 8,340.60 and traded between 8,380.23 and 8,325,82 during the session. A total of 5.64 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$170 billion (US$5.35 billion).
All eight major stock categories gained ground except for construction shares, which fell 0.1 percent.
Textile stocks rose 1.8 percent, electronics and machinery issues and paper and pulp shares gained 1.1 percent each, and cement shares rose 0.9 percent. Banking and financial shares advanced 0.5 percent, plastics and chemicals stocks grew 0.3 percent, and foodstuff shares moved up 0.1 percent.
Gainers outnumbered losers 2,009 to 1,205, with 280 stocks remaining unchanged.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of NT$10.61 billion in shares.
Kinpo predicts revenue boost
Kinpo Group (金仁寶集團) yesterday said it expected the group’s revenues to grow 25 percent this year thanks to better performance of subsidiaries’ business.
The group reported revenues of US$26.4 billion last year, and the number is forecast to hit US$33 billion this year, chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) told reporters at the group’s year-end party.
Kinpo Group’s affiliates include the world’s largest laptop computer maker by shipments Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and mobile phone maker Compal Communications Inc (華寶通訊).
Subsidiary Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶電子) would see more shipments for its set-top boxes and external hard drives, while another affiliate AcBel Polytech Inc (康舒科技) will see better orders in power supplies, Hsu said.
He also said Kinpo Group would accelerate its overseas expansion, including the US and Brazil.
AU Optronics looking to hire
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, plans to hire 2,500 engineers in its panel, alternative energy and electronic paper divisions, Freda Lee (李秀芬), a spokeswoman for the Hsinchu-based company said by telephone.
The workers will be based in Taiwan, Lee said. A separate round of hirings will be necessary if Taiwan’s government approves companies to invest in China, she said.
Bankruptcy filings soar in HK
Individual bankruptcy filings in Hong Kong surged 35 percent last year to total 15,784 cases — the worst since 2003 during the SARS outbreak, statistics by the territory’s Official Receiver’s Office showed yesterday.
Some 14,907 individuals filed for bankruptcy last year, 38.6 percent up from the previous year, the data showed. Some 877 creditors also filed for bankruptcy at the same time, 1.27 percent up from 2008.
The court has ruled on nearly 16,157 bankruptcies last year, up 50 percent year-on-year.
NT dollar slips
The New Taiwan dollar fell yesterday, paring this week’s advance, on speculation the central bank intervened to curb appreciation.
The currency earlier touched a 16-month high versus the greenback as warming ties with China and signs of a pickup in technology demand helped attract funds to the nation’s assets.
“There’s solid support for the US dollar,” said Tarsicio Tong, a currency trader at Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) in Taipei. “People are cautious; the central bank is concerned about what’s happening in the market.”
The NT dollar fell 0.2 percent to NT$31.828 versus the greenback as of 4pm, Taipei Forex Inc said. The currency strengthened 0.2 percent this week.
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