TAIEX up on bargain-hunting
The TAIEX recovered from early losses yesterday as bargain-hunting emerged in late trading, with investors picking up select large-cap high-tech stocks, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed up 10.82 points, or 0.12 percent, at 9,057.10, after moving between 8,981.44 and 9,059.19, on turnover of NT$89.56 billion (US$3 billion).
Public debt per capita up: MOF
The national debt stood at NT$211,000 a person at the end of last month, up NT$1,000 a person from a month earlier, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday.
The total national debt amounted to NT$4.89 trillion, ministry data showed.
The national debt includes both long-term and short-term debt. Outstanding debt with a maturity of more than one year totaled NT$4.629 trillion last month, while outstanding short-term debt stood at NT$260 billion, the data showed.
The national debt has increased by NT$14,000 a person since November last year, indicating an average monthly rise of NT$2,333, the ministry said.
Bids for 10-year bonds decline
The government attracted less bids for the sale of NT$40 billion in 10-year bonds than a previous auction after a series of central bank measures to absorb excess funds to rein in inflation.
The securities maturing in March 2021 were sold to yield 1.475 percent at an auction yesterday and drew bids for 1.26 times the amount on offer, the central bank said.
The government last sold 10-year bonds in March at a yield of 1.381 percent. That offer garnered a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.71 times.
Banks were the biggest buyers at the auction, accounting for 57 percent of the bonds offered, while securities firms accounted for 30 percent.
Macronix sales dip slightly
Macronix International Co Ltd (旺宏電子), which supplies chips to Japanese game console maker Nintendo Co, said yesterday its revenues fell 1.5 percent to NT$2.12 billion last month from NT$2.15 billion in the prior month.
Macronix said in April that demand for ROM chips used in game consoles would drop as Nintendo was conservative about demand for its new product and also because of impact from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
On an annual basis, revenues last month shrank 13.5 percent from NT$2.45 billion, Macronix said. ROM memory chips accounted for 40 percent of the company’s revenues in the first quarter of the year, it said.
Combined sales in April and last month reached NT$4.27 billion, which means the company would only have to make NT$2.13 billion in sales this month to hit its revenue guidance of between NT$6.4 billion and NT$6.8 billion this quarter.
Lite-On revenues edge up
Components manufacturer Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) reported revenues of NT$10.15 billion last month, marking its second-best month of the year.
Last month’s sales rose 2 percent from a month ago thanks to robust orders for core businesses, including camera modules and LEDs, a company statement released yesterday said.
Cumulative sales from January through last month hit NT$48.5 billion, which was flat compared with the same period last year, it said.
NT dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.015 to close at NT$28.735. Turnover totaled US$777 million during the trading session.
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