TAIEX slightly down
Taiwanese shares yesterday closed slightly lower on consolidation, with the TAIEX shedding 5.94 points, or 0.08 percent, to finish at 7,542.04 on turnover of NT$79.4 billion (US$2.48 billion).
Most major stock categories lost ground or remained unchanged, with textile issues the biggest losers, falling by 0.6 percent.
Foreign investors and Chinese qualified domestic institutional investors were net sellers of shares for the 10th consecutive session, selling NT$7.23 billion more in shares than they bought.
TCloud Computing unveiled
Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技), the nation’s leading antivirus software maker, yesterday announced the establishment of a subsidiary to pursue business opportunities in cloud computing.
The wholly owned affiliate TCloud Computing (騰雲計算) is set to debut cloud computing-related solutions in the second quarter with an eye to Asian customers — especially telecoms service providers.
TCloud’s revenues are projected to reach NT$120 million in two years, a statement said.
TCloud and Trend Micro are expected to announce more than 200 research and development vacancies this year, it said.
While the US and Europe are pioneers in the field of cloud computing, the creation of TCloud would help Taiwan secure a leading position in that booming sector, Trend Micro CEO Steve Chang (張明正) said in the statement.
Lextar secures NT$8bn loan
Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達電子) yesterday secured a NT$8 billion syndicated loan from 11 domestic banks, Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) said in a press statement.
The lenders had previously oversubscribed the loan by 50 percent, which reflected a vote of confidence on the light-emitting diode (LED) chips supplier’s development, the statement said.
Lextar is a LED unit spinoff of AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s largest liquid-crystal-display panel maker.
Man offers to ‘launder’ money
A creative Taiwanese businessman has come up with a new service catering to consumers ahead of the Lunar New Year — washing dirty bank notes so they can be used as holiday gifts.
Yu Guan-cheng (尤官正) asks NT$300 for washing 20 bank notes, soaking them in chemicals, rinsing with water and hanging them out to dry, TVBS news channel reported.
“Some people think I’m crazy to offer this service and wonder who would want to have their money washed,” he told TVBS, adding that he has new customers coming daily.
Grandparents and parents usually give “red envelopes” stuffed with clean and fresh bank notes to children for good luck in the upcoming year.
NT reaches yearly low
The New Taiwan dollar traded near its weakest level of the year as concern that some European countries will have difficulty financing budget deficits bolstered demand for the greenback.
Currencies declined across Asia’s emerging markets after EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Wednesday that Greece and Portugal’s external financing needs were “big,” spurring a slump in the euro.
The NT dollar was supported by demand from exporters below NT$32 versus the US dollar, said Yang Kung-yi (楊恭逸), a currency trader at Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank (上海商銀).
“The euro is going lower,” Yang said. “That helped the NT dollar go down a little bit as generally the US dollar is stronger. Exporters will sell if the price is higher than NT$32.”
The local currency dropped by NT$0.020 to close at NT$32.02 against its US counterpart.
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Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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