Taipei: Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high Wednesday as an overnight rally among tech stocks in the United States triggered buying, particularly in the bellwether electronics sector, dealers said. The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's (TWSE) benchmark index, ended up 901.85 points, or 1.98 percent, at 46,459.16 after moving between 45,660.46 and 46,552.16. Turnover totaled NT$1.45 trillion (US$45.79 billion).
According to Focus Taiwan, the optimism surrounding AI development was largely reflected in the U.S. market, as highlighted by Nvidia's Jensen Huang during the Computex Taipei event. This sentiment led to a 5.87 percent increase in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday. Alex Huang of Mega International Investment Services Corp. noted that it was unsurprising to see TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) spearhead the electronics sector's upward movement, propelling the Taiex to another closing high.
TSMC, which represents over 40 percent of the total market value, closed up 1.89 percent at NT$2,425.00. The stock's gains contributed 360 points to the Taiex's rise and pushed the electronics index 1.76 percent higher. Among other semiconductor stocks, IC packaging and testing firm ASE Technology Holding Co. gained 4.75 percent to end at NT$618.00, and semiconductor testing firm King Yuan Electronics Co. rose 5.22 percent to close at NT$322.50. Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. added 0.44 percent to end at NT$4,545.00.
Other AI-related stocks also saw buying interest, with iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. rising 2.49 percent to close at NT$309.00, and power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc. gaining 4.12 percent to end at NT$2,455.00. "With the market awash in liquidity, buying continued to rotate to the financial sector as investors took advantage of its relatively low valuation," Huang said. "Many financial firms benefited from handsome returns from their investments in the booming stock market."
President Securities soared 10 percent, reaching the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$54.30, and Capital Securities Corp. rose 8.36 percent to end at NT$44.70. CTBC Financial Holding Co. and KGI Financial Holding Co. jumped 10 percent to close at NT$70.50 and NT$25.70, respectively, while Fubon Financial Holding Co. saw a slight decrease of 0.44 percent to end at NT$113.00.
In the old economy sector, the textile industry saw strong buying interest amid optimism about demand for jerseys and other sports products ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off next week. With the textile industry up 4.1 percent, Far Eastern New Century Corp. rose 4.00 percent to close at NT$27.30, and Eclat Textile Co. ended up 2.56 percent at NT$360.50.
"Judging from recent significant gains, investors appeared very bullish and they tended to focus on positive leads such as AI development but ignore the tension in the Middle East," Huang commented. "Under such circumstances, it is very likely for the Taiex to challenge 47,000 points very soon." According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$43.40 billion of shares on the main board Wednesday.