TAIEX follows Wall Street rise
The TAIEX moved higher yesterday after Wall Street reached a new record high overnight, but gains were limited as the index moved closer to the 8,000-point mark, dealers said.
Buying rotated to the financial sector as investors embraced high hopes that the sector will benefit from increasing financial exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, while a sluggish electronics sector kept the broader market from rising further, the dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 10.21 points, or 0.13 percent, at 7,960.51, after moving between 7,942.37 and 7,984.29, on turnover of NT$82.03 billion (US$2.77 billion).
E Ink revenues plummet
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), which supplies e-paper displays to Amazon.com Inc and Sony Corp for their e-readers, yesterday said its revenue plunged 44 percent to NT$1.43 billion last month from January’s NT$2.57 billion, due to fewer working days in the month and slack demand during the low season.
The figure represented a 33 percent annual growth, E Ink said in a statement.
Last month, the company said revenue would fall this quarter from last quarter’s NT$10.8 billion because of seasonal factors.
The company also said it had signed an agreement with GDS Holding to jointly develop e-paper displays for outdoor billboards.
CPC joins Shell-run oil project
State-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said it had obtained 5 percent of rights and interests in a gas field development project run by oil exploration firm Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
Shell Development is exploring for oil in the Prelude and Concerto gas fields off the western Australian coast.
CPC said its participation in the development project would increase its own oil resources and enhance fuel supply.
Shell Development currently owns 67.5 percent of interests and rights in the project, with Japan’s INPEX Corp holding 17.5 percent and South Korea’s Korea Gas Corp owning 10 percent, CPC said.
FTC approves ASML bid
Netherland-based ASML Holding NV, the world’s largest lithography system provider for the semiconductor industry, received conditional approval from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to acquire Cymer Inc, a light-source developer and one of ASML’s suppliers, through Kona Technologies LLC, an ASML subsidiary.
The FTC said yesterday that the acquisition could facilitate the development of extreme ultraviolet lithography technology, and in turn promote the semiconductor industry, but certain conditions should be set to secure market competition.
The commission said after the acquisition, Kona Technologies cannot refuse to supply materials to Canon Inc and Nikon Corp, ASML’s competitors. Furthermore, Kona Technologies should not limit semiconductor companies from conducting business with Kona Technologies’ competitors, Canon and Nikon.
National debt rises again
National debt was NT$232,000 per person as of the end of last month, up NT$1,000 from January, due to Lunar New Year holiday spending, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The figure has risen for the fourth consecutive month on a monthly basis.
National debt, including long-term and short-term debt, amounted to NT$5.415 trillion as of the end of last month, up NT$35 billion from a month earlier, the ministry’s data showed.
Government bonds — the central government’s outstanding debt with a maturity of more than a year — totaled NT$5.13 trillion, while Treasury bills — outstanding debt with a maturity of less than a year — stood at NT$285 billion, statistics showed.
NT dollar down on grenback
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US dollar yesterday, declining NT$0.025 to close at NT$29.695, ending a two-session winning streak. Turnover totaled only US$350 million during the trading session.
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