TAIEX falls on Greece fears
The TAIEX retreated yesterday amid renewed concerns over a possible default in Greece after the Greek government and its opposition parties failed to reach a consensus on an austerity plan to restructure its finances, dealers said.
The weighted index fell 29.52 points, or 0.33 percent, to 8,727.09 on turnover of NT$88.75 billion (US$3.07 billion).
However, investors bought flat-panel stocks on hopes that China will place large orders in the middle of this year and they also went bargain hunting for shares of cementmakers, petrochemical firms and property developers.
SinoPac in deal with Shanghai
The board of SinoPac Securities Co (永豐金證券), the securities unit of SinoPac Financial Holding Co (永豐金控), yesterday approved a plan to sign a cooperation memorandum with a Chinese peer, Shanghai Securities (上海證券), for educational and information exchanges in the future, the parent company said in a statement.
SinoPac Securities still needs approval from the Financial Supervisory Commission before inking the cooperation agreement, the statement said.
With a registered capital of 261 million yuan (US$40.2 million), Shanghai Securities, created in May 2001, has 1,000 employees and 56 offices in major cities of China.
Shin Kong sells off US bonds
Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), Taiwan’s second-largest life insurer, sold 70 percent of its US Treasury holdings after a rally sent yields to the lowest level this year.
The sales took place this week, said Zeal Yin, who invests in US debt in Taipei for the company, which has the equivalent of US$53.2 billion in assets.
“We need more weak data to push yields lower,” he said.
Shin Kong also sold because the 10-year yield is falling toward its 200-day moving average, which can be a difficult barrier to break, he said.
Taipei No. 2 for conferences
Taipei was the second-most popular destination in Asia for conferences last year, according to the latest ranking by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
Taipei ranked only behind Singapore in Asia, up from seventh place in the region in 2009, and had a world-wide ranking of 11th, up from 25th place the previous year, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said on Tuesday, citing statistics from the ICCA.
Taipei hosted 99 international conferences last year, and had the fastest growth rate of 55 percent among all Asian cities, TAITRA said.
Hualien and Hsinchu also made it into the ICCA conference rankings for the first time, placing 284th and 309th, respectively.
NT dollar drops on China fears
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday dropped to near its weakest level in a month after foreign funds trimmed holdings of the nation’s stocks on concern a slowdown in China’s economy will hurt demand for exports.
Global investors sold US$906 million more local shares than they bought this week, according to exchange data. A Chinese manufacturing index compiled by HSBC Holdings PLC and Markit Economics fell to its lowest level in 10 months this month, data this week showed.
“Foreigners have been selling a lot of Taiwan stocks,” said Henry Lin, a Taipei-based foreign-exchange trader at Taiwan Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行). “The worry that a China slowdown will affect Taiwan is definitely there.”
The NT dollar weakened 0.3 percent to NT$29.009 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
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