The Tai-Ex opened marginally higher this morning from yesterday's close, at

17,136 on turnover of 3.3-billion N-T.

The market moved higher again on Wednesday, as reduced investor concerns

about further interest rate hikes by the U-S Federal Reserve triggered strong

buying across the board.

D-P-P presidential candidate Lai Ching-te says if elected he will make it a

requirement that companies seeking to go public have to provide salaries

higher than the government's minimum wage.

Speaking at a youth forum in Taipei, Lai said companies wishing to be listed

on Taiwan's securities market and raise funds publicly ought to offer their

employees more competitive wages.

Lai says he will also make the minimum wage prerequisite (必須的) - meaning

minimum monthly wages in future listed companies should be set at no less

than 30,000 N-T.

And,

Government officials in Kaohsiung say this past weekend's Coldplay concerts

generated about 550-million N-T in revenue (收入) for the city.

The band performed at the Kaohsiung National Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.

According to city officials, the stadium and neighboring areas were visited

by more than 170,000 people over the two days, which boosted sales at night

markets by at least 30-per cent.

The influx of people also lifted the downtown hotel occupancy rate to 90-per

cent.

Data released by the Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau shows 70-per cent of those

who came to see Coldplay were from other cities, counties, and overseas.

The leaders of the United States and China have concluded their meeting in

San Francisco this morning.

US President Joe Biden spoke to the press after what he called a "most

constructive and productive" meeting, and highlighted several key issues he

discussed with Xi Jin-ping.

Biden says they have agreed to resume (恢復) high-level military

communications, indicating that a lack of communication is how

"misunderstandings" and "accidents" happen.

Biden also says the two sides discussed several world issues, including

Russia's war against Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.

Biden says he gave the Chinese president names of hostages in Gaza whom he

hoped would be released, but no firm agreement was reached on that issue.

And Biden also stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan

Strait, telling Xi that he does not wish to change the status quo of

US-Taiwan relations.

The United Nations Security Council has called for 'urgent and extended

(長期的) humanitarian pauses' in fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Sally Patterson has more.

Officials say Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund have reached a

preliminary agreement on releasing $700 million from a $3 billion bailout

fund approved in July.

The standby credit set up by the IMF is meant to save cash-strapped Pakistan

from default.

In a statement, the IMF says the two sides reached the staff-level agreement

following talks in Islamabad.

The deal still must be approval by the IMF's management and its executive

board, though such approvals are generally a formality (例行公事).

That was the I.C.R.T. news,

Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded

every day in the afternoon.

Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____.

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn