The TAIEX rose, paced by AU Optronics Corp (
Stocks rose 1.2, or 0.02 percent, to close at 4,992.42. The index gained 12 percent so far this year. About one stock rose for every one that fell. The total value of trade was NT$135.85 billion (US$3.9 billion), the highest level since April 17 last year.
Salomon raised its rating on AU Optronics, the world's third-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in personal computers and other electronics devices, to "outperform" from "in-line" in a research report. AU Optronics rose NT$0.30, or 1.2 percent, to NT$25.10. Quanta Display rose NT$0.10, or 0.7 percent, to NT$14.70.
The brokerage also increased its recommendation on flat-panel display makers as a group to "marketweight" from "underweight." AU Optronics shares slumped 45 percent in 2002, while Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (
Shares of panel makers "are approaching a level that can be looked at from a long-term buy perspective," said Kevin Huang, who manages NT$550 million (US$16 million) in equities at Reliance Securities Investment Trust Co (德信投信).
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the flagship of Taiwan's largest industrial group, fell NT$0.50, or 1.0 percent, to NT$50. Company vice chairman Wang Yung-tsai (王永在) told a local newspaper that the outlook for the petrochemical industry will most certainly weaken after gains in petrochemical product prices.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Taiwan's largest electronic components maker, rose NT$3.50, or 2.7 percent, to NT$132 after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co rated the company "overweight," citing improved sales from a month ago.
Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控), the owner of Taiwan's fifth-largest bank by assets, rose NT$0.20, or 0.8 percent, to NT$26.70. Taiwan's central bank will subsidize NT$200 billion of loans to boost property purchases among homebuyers on the island.
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