Local share prices close higher
Average share prices closed up 0.67 percent yesterday after the sixth-round of high-level talks between Taiwan and China officially opened, dealers said.
The TAIEX rose 59.07 points to the day’s high of 8,827.79, off a low of 8,772.59, on turnover of NT$99.36 billion (US$3.32 billion).
The market opened 0.39 percent higher, the momentum extending to the end of the trading session, with buying concentrated on the old economy sector on hopes that these stocks would further benefit from the fast growing China market, dealers said.
A total of 2,445 stocks closed up, 161 down and 423 remained unchanged.
PRC store plans local listing
Grand Ocean Retail Group (大洋百貨), a China-based department store chain, is planning to launch a primary listing on Taiwan’s stock exchange in the fourth quarter of next year, its Taiwanese parent company said yesterday.
First Steamship Co (益航), which holds a 50 percent stake in Grand Ocean Retail, said a board meeting has approved a proposal for the retailer to list on Taiwan’s main board.
First Steamship said Cayman Islands-registered Grand Ocean appointed Yuanta Securities (元大證券) as a financial adviser for the planned listing and is gearing up to prepare for the stock market debut.
Grand Ocean, which opened its first store in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, in 2002, currently operates 14 stores in 10 Chinese cities, including Nanjing, Guangzhou, Suzhou and Chongqing, First Steamship said.
In the first three quarters of the year, Grand Ocean had net earnings of US$10.84 million, up 19 percent from a year earlier. With a registered capital of 500 million yuan (US$74.9 million), the company is expanding operations and hopes to open four stores a year.
Chinatrust receives BSI boost
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) on Monday received professional accreditation from the British Standards Institution (BSI), the first financial firm to earn the honor, the company said in a statement yesterday.
The award presentation ceremony was held at Chinatrust Financial Headquarters. BSI was first established in 1901 and is one of the world’s leading third-party standards and accreditation institutions.
Chinatrust has received 40 awards from professional and impartial institutions in Taiwan and overseas.
Trend Micro set for record
Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技), a major global content security provider, has successfully released 865 mousetraps in a domino circle, a feat expected to set a new Guinness World Record.
The Tokyo-headquartered, Taiwanese-founded multinational said on Monday that it had broken the previous record of 200 mousetraps and would submit its claim to the Guinness World Records organization for formal confirmation.
The mousetrap event, which was organized in Hsinchu City this year, was part of the company’s annual team-building camp for 700 engineers from around the world.
NT dollar up against greenback
The NT dollar rose NT$0.001 against the US dollar yesterday to close at NT$30.600.
Turnover totaled US$572 million during the trading session.
The central bank once again intervened in the local foreign exchange market in late trading to push the US dollar back above the NT$30.00 level, dealers said.
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