TAIEX up on technical rebound
The TAIEX edged up 0.87 percent yesterday on a technical rebound as investors took their cues from Wall Street’s overnight recovery, dealers said.
The benchmark index rose 71.56 points to 8,312.21, after moving between 8,234.22 and 8,324.51, on turnover of NT$86.97 billion (US$2.83 billion).
The market slid 6.43 points at the opening, but bargain-hunting emerged to take advantage of low valuation stocks, notably plastics and construction issues, which were badly hammered the previous day by fears that foreign institutional investors would move funds out of Taiwan, the dealers said.
A total of 2,057 stocks closed up, 1,686 ended down and 395 were unchanged.
US drops suit against TSMC
The US government has dropped an investigation into an alleged patent infringement by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s leading contract chipmaker, the company said yesterday.
This came after the accuser, STC.UNM — the licensing arm of the University of New Mexico — and TSMC filed a joint motion to the US International Trade Commission asking it to terminate the investigation, TSMC said in a statement.
“While TSMC regrets that a case based upon an invalid and unenforceable patent such as STC’s made its way into the courts, TSMC is, however, pleased with the outcome of this case,” TSMC general counsel Richard Thurston said.
The two companies had reached a settlement, TSMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun (孫又文) said, declining to provide details.
Chunghwa plans land sale
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) plans to sell land in Taipei County to Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp for NT$648 million, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
The Taipei-based company expects to book a gain of NT$273 million from the sale, the statement said.
Formosa Oilseed inks loan
Formosa Oilseed Processing Co (福懋油脂) signed a NT$1 billion five-year syndicated loan with nine banks led by Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), the Taipei-based lender said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The funds will be used to replenish midterm working capital.
MOEA sets investment target
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said it aimed to attract NT$1,050 billion in investment from local and foreign enterprises next year.
The ministry said Taiwan’s investment environment had become more attractive thanks to a series of measures, including a business tax cut to 17 percent from 20 percent, the launch of more cross-strait flights, relaxation of regulations governing Chinese travel in Taiwan and the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China.
The ministry expects this year’s total investment to reach NT$1,047 billion.
As of last month, total investment in Taiwan was NT$851 billion, hitting 81.3 percent of the full-year target, according to the ministry’s data.
NT dollar closes flat
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday erased earlier gains on speculation the central bank intervened in the final minutes of trading to slow appreciation that could hurt exporters.
The NT dollar was unchanged at NT$30.732 against its US counterpart at the close, Taipei Forex Inc said. The local currency has appreciated 5.7 percent this year, trailing gains of 11.4 percent for the Thai baht, 9.3 percent for Malaysia’s ringgit and 8 percent for the Singapore dollar.
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