Stocks rose for the first day in four. MediaTek Inc (
"I'm buying electronics stocks whose sales should stay near their peak this month and next," said David Chu, who helps manage NT$2 billion (US$57 million) in stocks at Reliance Securities Investment Trust Co (
Chu said he's buying shares of semiconductor chip packagers such as Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (
The TAIEX rose 34.09, or 0.7 percent, to close at 4,646.69.
Within the index, more than three stocks rose for every two that fell.
The total value of trade was NT$63 billion.
For the week, the index fell for a second week, sliding 1.3 percent.
Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運), the nation's largest shipping company by market value, dropped NT$0.90, or 3.7 percent, to NT$23.50 on concern the establishment of direct links will be delayed.
The Mainland Affairs Council said it won't be able to present a technical report on direct transport links with China by the end of the month, as it had previously agreed.
"A delay in the timetable for direct transport links will impact transport stocks," Chu said.
MediaTek rose NT$7, or 2.5 percent, to NT$292. The chip designer forecasts fourth-quarter gross profit margins will at least equal its 45 percent margin rate in the third quarter.
AU Optronics Corp (
China Development Financial Holding Corp (
China Steel Corp (
It raised product prices by between NT$200 a ton and NT$1,200 a ton for the first quarter.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (
The price of a benchmark type of dynamic random access memory chip jumped 4.8 percent to US$2.62 yesterday, its biggest percentage gain since Oct. 28, according to DrameXchange.com, a Taiwan-based clearinghouse.
Southern Information Systems Inc (
Springsoft Inc (
Uni-President Enterprises Co (
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Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day