Business and Finance

CPC to raise domestic fuel prices next week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/07
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) CPC Corp., Taiwan (中油), the state-owned oil supplier, 201602070021t0001announced Sunday that it will raise domestic gasoline and diesel prices for next week in reflection of a rebound staged by international crude oil prices.

Starting from Monday, the price tags carried by CPC’s gasoline and diesel will be raised by NT$0.6 (US$0.02) per liter after a decision by the company to hike its fuel prices by NT$1 per liter for this week. It is the second consecutive week for the state-run company to adjust fuel prices higher.

CPC calculates its weekly fuel prices based on a weighted oil price formula that is comprised of 70 percent Dubai crude and 30 percent Brent crude.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan No. 5 for phone junk volume: app maker

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 10, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

People in Taiwan clean an average of 759 megabytes of junk files from their mobile phones per day, the fifth-largest volume of mobile phone users worldwide, according to Cheetah Mobile Inc (獵豹移動), the developer of the Clean Master free cache cleaning app.

Taiwan trailed users in South Korea (1,131MB), Japan (883MB), Germany (802MB) and the US (781MB), Cheetah Mobile said, citing the results of a survey on file cleaning habits in different countries around the world.

Ranking sixth to 10th were mobile phone users in Spain (700MB), Turkey (643MB), Russia (635MB), China (631MB) and Malaysia (597MB), the company said.
Mick Tsai (蔡昌傑), product director for Cheetah Mobile, said the more frequently people use their mobile phones, the more junk files are generated. The volume of junk files removed, therefore, reflects the level of users’ dependence on mobile phones, he said.

Because people in South Korea and Japan like to play games on their handsets, mobile phone users in those two countries remove a massive volume of junk files, he said     [FULL  STORY]

Credit card spending keeps rising

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 08, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

With more and more local consumers keen to use credit cards,

Consumer credit cards are posed in North Andover, Massachusetts, on March 5, 2012. Photo: AP

Consumer credit cards are posed in North Andover, Massachusetts, on March 5, 2012. Photo: AP

spending through the system in Taiwan hit a record high last year, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Friday.

Citing statistics, the commission said that consumers in Taiwan spent a total of NT$2.2 trillion (US$65.67 billion) using credit cards last year, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier.

It was the sixth consecutive year in which Taiwanese credit card purchases hit a record high, the commission said. However, the year-on-year growth in credit card spending for last year was lower than in the previous two years, when the annual increase surpassed 8 percent, the commission said.

In December last year, consumers in Taiwan spent NT$204.3 billion through credit cards, the third-highest after the NT$242.5 billion seen in June last year and the NT$206.3 billion recorded in June 2014, the commission said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan eases regulations on day trading

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-07
By: Central News Agency

Taiwan has further relaxed its rules on day trading in a bid to boost investors’ interest and eventually expand turnover in the local equity market, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Under the new regulations, which took effect Feb. 1, day trading will include stocks that are eligible for margin trading and short sales, the TWSE said. Day trading now includes stocks that account for almost 100 percent of market capitalization, it said.

Day trading allows traders to buy first and sell later or sell first and buy later in a single session, according to the TWSE.     [FULL  STORY]

Commercial property transactions hit seven-year low

REPORT:DTZ Debenham Tie Leung said transactions picked up significantly in Q4, but the increase was insufficient to offset the effects of the slowing local economy

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 08, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Transactions of commercial property in Taiwan fell to a seven-year low last year at a time when the local economy was slowing down, according to a recent research report.

Citing the report, international property consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung (戴德梁行) said that transactions of office and shop space in Taiwan totaled NT$77.86 billion (US$2.32 billion) for the whole of last year, down 14 percent from the previous year.

Last year’s transaction value even fell to the lowest level since 2008 due to poor performance in the local economy, DTZ said.     [FULL  STORY]

Donations flow in from NGOs, business sector for quake relief

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/06
By: Han Ting-ting, Pan Chi-I, Wei Shu, Wang Ching-yi and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 6 (CNA) The local business sector and some non-201602060035t0001governmental organizations have been donating hundreds of millions of Taiwan dollars for relief and reconstruction since a deadly earthquake struck in the south of the country early Saturday.

The 6.4-magnitude quake hit southern Taiwan at 3:57 a.m., killing 12 people and injuring more than 400 as several buildings collapsed, mainly in Tainan City.

Lin Rung San Foundation of Culture and Social Welfare expressed condolences to the victims and said it will donate NT$100 million (US$2.99 million) to the relief and recovery efforts.

The foundation, set up by Liberty Times’ late founder Lin Rung San (林榮三), said his priorities were the development of Taiwan society and advancement of freedom, which was why it was making the donation toward reconstruction.

Asian stocks fall as rising yen hurts TOPIX

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 07, 2016
By: Bloomberg

Asian stocks fell on Friday, with the regional benchmark index heading for a weekly loss, after Japanese shares declined as the strengthening yen pressured major exporters.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.3 percent to 120.83 as of 4:04pm in Hong Kong. The measure is poised for a 0.5 percent decline this week as Japan’s Topix index erased its gains from the Bank of Japan’s stimulus on Jan. 29 and the yen headed for its biggest weekly advance since 2009. Investors are awaiting Friday’s US monthly payrolls report after data showed factory orders fell in December last year.

“The Bank of Japan has done what they should, but what they could do had its limits,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc in Tokyo. “Until now, the view on the US economy was that it was recovering, but the pace was not as fast as hoped. Now there is some concern in the market that it may actually be contracting.”     [FULL  STORY]

Domestic fuel prices could rise next week: market sources

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-05
By: Central News Agency

Domestic gasoline and diesel prices are expected to move higher next week in the wake of a rebound in international crude oil prices this week, market sources said Friday.

The gains posted by international crude oil prices reflected high hopes that oil-producing countries will cut output in a bid to rein in the weakness in the global oil market, which could prompt local fuel prices to rise for the second consecutive week, the sources said.

Based on the rebound in crude oil prices Thursday, CPC Corp., Taiwan (中油) is likely to raise its gasoline prices by NT$0.6 (US$0.02) per liter next week and diesel prices by NT$0.7 per liter, following a NT$1 hike per liter for both gasoline and diesel prices this week, the sources said.     [FULL  STORY]

Largan’s January sales down 19%; Catcher’s down 9.9%

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/05
By: Han Ting-ting and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) Largan Precision Co. (大立光), a smartphone 201602050028t0001camera lens supplier to Apple Inc., said that slow seasonal effects continued to push down its sales by 19 percent in January from a month earlier.

Also affected by the cyclical slowdown in the industry was Catcher Technology Co. (可成), a metal casing supplier for Apple, which saw its sales for January fall 9.9 percent from a month earlier.

Largan posted NT$3.23 billion (US$96.4 million) in consolidated sales in January, down 19 percent from December. Largan’s January sales also fell 20 percent from a year earlier.     [FULL  STORY]

CPI rises 0.81%, highest in 14 months

DOUBLE WHAMMY:Last month’s cold snap that damaged crops and shrunk supplies, combined with the Lunar New Year shopping demand, drove up prices

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 06, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s consumer price index (CPI) gained 0.81 percent last month from a year earlier, rising at the fastest pace in 14 months, as Lunar New Year demand drove up food costs, and the effect might be more evident this month, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The mild increase in the government’s inflation gauge gives the central bank room to cut interest rates next month to stimulate the economy without concerns over runaway inflation.

“Prices of vegetables, fruit, fishery products and home appliances all rose last month compared with a year earlier, underpinning the CPI increase,” DGBAS Deputy Director Tsai Yu-tai (蔡鈺泰) said at a news conference.

Taiwanese celebrate the week-long Lunar New Year holiday with family reunions and feasts, driving up food costs throughout the season.

The cold snap last month also contributed to the CPI’s increase, as it damaged crops, shrinking supplies, Tsai said.     [FULL  STORY]