TAIEX rises again
The TAIEX rose to its highest level in more than two years, as Nomura Holdings Inc became the latest brokerage to recommend the nation’s equities.
Catcher Technology Corp (可成) jumped 6.8 percent after sales soared last month. First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) climbed 5.9 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc raised its share-price estimate. Finance and insurance companies accounted for 25 percent of the TAIEX’s advance yesterday.
The TAIEX gained 78.22, or 0.9 percent, to 8,702.23 at the 1:30pm Taipei trading close, its highest level since June 6, 2008.
Turnover was NT$140.95 billion (US$4.66 billion).
Nomura raised its rating for Taiwan stocks to “bullish” from “bearish,” saying the index may offer “significant potential upside.” The brokerage joined Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in recommending Taiwanese shares next year.
Largan sales still growing
Largan Precision Co. Ltd (大立光), the world’s largest cellphone camera lens maker, said yesterday its sales last month hit a record high for the sixth consecutive month on an increase in shipments.
Last month, Largan posted NT$1.29 billion in sales, up 2 percent from October and up 37 percent from a year earlier.
In the 11 months to last month, Largan said, it recorded NT$11.03 billion in sales, up 52 percent year-on-year.
“Demand for consumer electronic products, in particular smartphones, remained strong,” Taiwan International Securities (金鼎證券) analyst Michael Chiang said.
BenQ receives loan
BenQ Materials Corp (明基材料) has received an NT$3 billion five-year loan from 14 lenders, including Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一商業銀行) and E. Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), the firm said in a statement to the stock exchange. The funds will be used to boost working capital and improve financial structure, the compact disc maker said.
CPC shuts Taoyuan unit
State-owned oil company CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油), said it shut the No. 1 crude distillation unit at its Taoyuan refinery on Nov. 26 for maintenance.
The stoppage will last about 45 days, vice president Paul Chen (陳綠蔚) said in a telephone interview yesterday. The company had earlier halted its No. 11 crude distillation unit at the Talin refinery on Nov. 20 for about the same length of time, he said. Each of the units can process 100,000 barrels of oil a day.
CPC’s three refineries have a combined capacity of 720,000 barrels a day. Crude distillation units separate the fuel into oil products and form the main part of a refinery.
China Airlines to fly to Auckland
China Airlines (中華航空) said yesterday that it will become Taiwan’s only carrier serving New Zealand next year when it launches flights to Auckland on Jan. 1. Rival EVA Airways (長榮航空) canceled its service two years ago.
China Airlines currently operates three flights a week between Taipei and Brisbane, Australia, and the airline will add New Zealand to its list of destinations by extending the route to Auckland.
China extends yuan trial
China said yesterday it has increased the number of firms allowed to use the yuan to settle international transactions to 67,359 from 365, in the latest step towards making the unit a global currency.
The expanded list of companies in 16 regions participating in the country’s yuan cross-border settlement trial is aimed at “making trade and investment more convenient,” the People’s Bank of China said on its Web site.
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An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
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