Tech stocks lead rally
The TAIEX rose nearly 1 percent yesterday, fueled by surges on Wall Street and in European markets on Friday, with the benchmark index briefly rising above the 7,300 mark for the first time since July 10, boosted by interest in large-cap electronics stocks.
The weighted index ranged between a high of 7,340.56 and a low of 7,276.60 before closing up 68.82 points, or 0.95 percent, at 7,286.33 on turnover of NT$81.23 billion (US$2.71 billion).
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) closed up by the daily maximum of 7 percent at NT$87.30, after chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said the company could renegotiate the price of the stake in Japan-based Sharp Corp it committed to acquire in March.
A total of 2,305 stocks closed up, 1,844 finished down and 433 were unchanged.
FX reserves drop as euro falls
Foreign exchange reserves totaled US$391.11 billion as of the end of last month, down US$127 million from a month earlier, the central bank said yesterday.
“The euro depreciated against the US dollar last month, making foreign exchange reserves denominated in euro worth less in terms of the base currency, the US dollar,” Lin Sun-yuan (林孫源), director-general of the bank’s foreign exchange department, told a press briefing.
Net outflow of foreign capital — which totaled US$2.79 billion last month — was the other factor dragging down last month’s foreign exchange reserves, Lin added.
The market value of securities investments and deposits held by foreign portfolios last month reached their lowest level this year at US$193.7 billion, which is equivalent to 50 percent of foreign exchange reserves, the bank said.
Taiwan continued to hold the world’s fourth-largest foreign exchange reserves, behind China, Japan and Russia, data showed.
EVA cargo service to Haneda
EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空) tomorrow will launch cargo services between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, the carrier said yesterday.
The two new weekly flights to Haneda will complement EVA’s two existing flights between Taoyuan and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, the company said.
Haneda will become EVA’s third cargo destination in Japan, in addition to Narita and Osaka’s Kansai International Airport.
Cathay, Yuanta report profits
Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$4.41 billion for last month, thanks to dividend income and lower foreign-currency hedging costs.
That helped its flagship firm, Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), swing to profit with a net income of NT$2.84 billion, the parent firm said in a statement.
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) generated NT$1.57 billion in net profit, bolstered by interest and fee income, the statement said.
Cathay Financial’s cumulative profits in the first seven months of the year totaled NT$9.62 billion, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.90.
Separately, Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控) reported NT$524 million in net profit last month as the local equities markets recovered, it said in a stock filing.
Yuanta Securities Co (元大寶來證券), the nation’s largest brokerage, reported NT$221 million in net profit, the filing said.
For the first seven months of the year, Yuanta Financial accumulated NT$3.52 billion in net profits, or EPS of NT$3.35, it said.
NT dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.042 yesterday to close at NT$29.960 against the US dollar on turnover of US$727 million.
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