Share prices dip 0.26%
Share prices fell 0.26 percent yesterday, dragged down by large-cap electronic stocks and the financial sector, with the benchmark index closing below 7,100 points.
The market opened up 13.11 points and quickly moved to the the day’s high of 7,125.67. However, the TAIEX fell to the day’s low of 7,078.06 before the end of the trading session.
The benchmark index closed down 18.15 points to end at 7,092.58.
Turnover totaled NT$65.02 billion (US$2.15 billion) during the session.
TWSE seeks to build confidence
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (TWSE, 台灣證交所) will soon hold a meeting with senior executives from major local companies as part of its efforts to boost investor confidence in the local bourse.
The executives from a total of 12 companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), HTC Corp (宏達電) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), will provide -confidence--building suggestions at the meeting.
Lenders pushed to loan more
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday encouraged domestic lenders to increase loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) next year and promised rewards for cooperative banks.
The commission tentatively set the overall goal for SME loans at NT$220 billion next year, up from NT$200 billion this year, according to a statement on its Web site.
The move is the commission’s latest effort to maintain an easy credit environment as global economic uncertainty clouds the nation’s GDP growth outlook. It was also one of the measures announced by the Presidential Office’s economic task force last week to help small businesses access capital during the downturn.
The commission promised to speed up the review of business expansion applications at home and abroad for banks that accommodate the policy.
Yulon predicts good sales
In spite of the unfavorable business sentiment, automaker Yulon Group (裕隆集團) chairman Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰) said he expected Taiwan’s vehicle sales next year to retain this year’s momentum and hit about 370,000 units.
Yen made the remark on the sidelines of the 19th Taipei International Auto Show, saying that his optimism was based on the automaker’s sales of more than 500 cars just two days into the expo, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday.
He expected that Yulon would sell more than 300 units of its own-brand “Luxgen” vehicle during the nine-day show, the report said.
Yulon’s affiliate, China Motors Corp (中華汽車), recently succeeded in gaining orders from Japan’s Mitsubishi to produce “Lancer” vehicles in Taiwan and would export 1,000 Lancers to Kuwait in the first year.
New deputy governor named
Yen Tzung-ta (嚴宗大), head of the central bank’s economic research department, has been appointed as the bank’s deputy governor for a five-year term beginning on Feb. 15, according to a Presidential Office statement issued on Dec. 13.
Yen, who was also appointed a director on the bank’s board for a three-year term starting on the same date, is to replace Deputy Governor George Chou (周阿定), who will retire in February.
NT dollar dips against US
The New Taiwan dollar fell against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.012 to close at NT$30.308.
Turnover totaled US$422 million during the trading session.
POOR INTERNAL CONTROLS: Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa said the company is expected to get back on track while its chairman is suspended The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) NT$27.6 million (US$939,415) for a reckless investment that endangered its solvency, and suspended its chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) for poor supervision. The penalty is the second-highest in a single case after Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) was fined NT$30 million in September last year and its chairman Du Ying-tzyong (杜英宗) suspended for two years, the commission said. In three rounds of special and regular examinations conducted since last year, the commission found that Shin Kong Life had given too much power to an asset and liability management committee
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Sony Corp has cut its estimated Play Station 5 (PS5) production for this fiscal year by 4 million units, down to about 11 million, following production issues with its custom-designed system-on-chip (SOC) for the new console, people familiar with the matter said. The Tokyo-based electronics giant in July boosted orders with suppliers in anticipation of heightened demand for gaming in the holiday season and beyond, as people spend more time at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the company has come up against manufacturing issues, such as production yields as low as 50 percent for its SOC, which have cut into
O2O BICYCLE SHOW: The Taiwan Bicycle Show next year is to be online to offline, with forums, audio-visual conferences and livestreaming of the offline events Local bicycle makers expect demand to continue outpacing supply due to orders triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some companies seeing orders back up through next year. “Next year is all full in terms of orders. Our lead time on components is one year,” Giant Manufacturing Co Ltd (巨大機械) chairwoman Bonnie Tu (杜綉珍) told a news conference in Taipei organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) to announce next year’s Taipei Cycle Show. The pandemic has reduced bicycle supplies and increased demand around the world, Robert Wu (吳盈進), chairman of KMC (Kuei Meng) International Inc (桂盟國際), one of the world’s
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