Taipei: Shares in Taiwan closed at another high on Tuesday, led by large-cap electronics stocks. Investors took cues from the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which hit a record overnight, according to dealers. The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), rose 307.80 points, or 1.25 percent, to close at 24,855.18. It moved between 24,650.46 and 24,880.07, with a turnover totaling NT$492.77 billion (US$16.25 billion).
According to Focus Taiwan, the market opened up 0.42 percent. Buying accelerated as investors rushed to pick up tech heavyweights, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). This followed a strong performance on the Nasdaq, driven by robust corporate earnings and solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The intraday high was also the highest in history.
Moore Securities Investment Consulting analyst Adam Lin noted that strong earnings reports in the United States bolstered investors' confidence in AI development, prompting them to increase holdings in local AI-related stocks. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in Taiwan, rose 1.69 percent to close at the day's high of NT$1,200.00. iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. gained 1.97 percent to end at NT$207.50. Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. added 5.59 percent to close at NT$1,510.00, while power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc. soared 7.99 percent to NT$784.00.
Lin mentioned that the four tech giants drove the broader market higher, with foreign institutional investors likely standing on the buy side in anticipation of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut at its policymaking meeting next week.
In other tech developments, LITE-ON Technology Corp., which manufactures power solutions for AI servers, rose 4.85 percent to NT$140.50, while graphics card vendor Giga-Byte Technology Co. climbed 3.64 percent to NT$284.50. According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$35.65 billion worth of shares on the main board on Tuesday.
Lin added that with the electronics sector accounting for about 70 percent of the day's turnover, nontech stocks were largely left behind. However, select machinery stocks attracted strong buying due to their efforts in robotics development related to AI. Among them, Teco Electric and Machinery Co. surged 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to NT$79.60, while Hiwin Technology Co. jumped 7.04 percent to NT$220.50.
In contrast, Lungteh Shipbuilding Co. lost 1.60 percent to NT$185.00, and fighter jet developer Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. fell 0.75 percent to NT$66.00, as investors pocketed profits in "military concept" stocks. In the financial sector, which rose 0.75 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. and Cathay Financial Holding Co. gained 0.47 percent to close at NT$86.40 and NT$64.10, respectively, while CTBC Financial Holding Co. added 0.60 percent to NT$42.00.
Lin expects rotational buying to remain active in the short term, potentially providing liquidity support to second- and third-tier stocks.