Rotational buying lifts TAIEX
Rotational buying in bellwether electronics stocks yesterday helped the broader stock market fend off downward pressure and reverse early losses caused by weakness on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.
However, while the TAIEX closed above the 7,600 mark, turnover failed to pick up. Investors turned cautious over the eurozone’s debt problems after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou pledged to hold a referendum on a debt relief plan hammered out at a European summit last week, they said.
The TAIEX rose 34.32 points, or 0.45 percent, to close at 7,622.01, after moving between 7,505.96 and 7,656.26 on turnover of NT$97.29 billion (US$3.24 billion).
Bond sale yields 1.819 percent
The government sold NT$35 billion in 20-year bonds at a yield of 1.819 percent at an auction yesterday, the central bank said.
The sale attracted bids for 1.95 times the amount on offer, the bank said in a statement. The government last sold 20-year debt in July at a yield of 1.975 percent. That offer had a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.55 times.
The banking industry was the biggest buyer at the auction, taking 42 percent of the total issuance, followed by the insurance sector, with 28 percent of holdings.
MetLife acquisition completed
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) completed the acquisition of MetLife Taiwan Insurance Co (大都會人壽) from MetLife Inc, the buyer said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
The insurer will be renamed Chinatrust Life Insurance Co (中國信託人壽), the local financial company said.
Meanwhile, CCB Life Insurance Co (建信人壽) received approval from China Insurance Regulatory Commission to set up a Shandong branch, Taiwan-based China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽) said in a statement to the local stock exchange yesterday.
CCB Life is a joint venture between China Life and China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) among others.
Shanghai Bank signs MOU
Taiwan-based Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank (上海商業儲蓄銀行) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s Bank of Shanghai (上海銀行) and Hong Kong’s Shanghai Commercial Bank (上海商業銀行) to strengthen business cooperation.
The three agreed to cooperate on areas including bank-to-bank transactions, inward and outward remittance, forex export and import services, account receivable factoring and syndicated loans.
The MOU also focuses on the exchange of personnel and expertise in the fields of wealth and risk management.
Shanghai Commercial posted NT$6.14 billion in pre-tax profit and NT$5.21 billion in after-tax profit in the first three quarters of this year. These figures translate into earnings per share of NT$2.14 before tax and NT$1.81 after tax. If the NT$1.42 billion spent on employee stock bonuses were included, the bank’s pre-tax profit would have reached NT$7.56 billion, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier.
NT dollar retreats
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against the US currency yesterday, falling NT$0.156 to close at NT$30.086 on turnover of US$1.08 billion.
The fall was a reflection of the declines in most of the currencies in the region after Australia’s central bank cut its key interest rates for the first time in two-and-a-half years, dealers said.
The rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia raised concerns over economic growth in the region, prompting traders to boost their holdings in the US dollar throughout the region, they said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
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Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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