Acer rises, TSMC falls in mixed day

The TAIEX rose yesterday for the first day in five, led by Acer Inc (宏電), after the company said it planned to buy back 60 million shares starting yesterday to boost its per-share profit.

Acer said it planned to pay as much as NT$41.10 a share for its own shares. It also said it was reducing its stakes in Ambit Microsystems Corp (國電) and Benq Corp (明電).

Limiting gains, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) slid after its customer, Nvidia Corp, awarded a contract to rival International Business Machines Corp.

The TAIEX rose 18.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,514.24.

MSCI Taiwan futures for March delivery in Singapore rose 0.7 percent to 193.90, while the Taiwan Futures Index rose 0.6 percent to 4,496.

About seven stocks gained for very three that declined.

Acer rose NT$1.7, or 5.3 percent, to NT$33.80. Acer said it expected profit to fall 31 percent this year because a slump in share prices will sap the value of its investments.

Sales, though, may rise more than 35 percent to NT$57 billion, the company said.

Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest maker of computer chips on a subcontracting basis, fell NT$2.1, or 4.5 percent, to NT$44.90. United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), TSMC's biggest rival, fell NT$0.40, or 1.9 percent, to NT$20.50.

IBM's contract to make graphics chips for Nvidia was estimated at "several hundred million dollars," said Semico Research Corp analyst Joanne Itow.

Nvidia, which makes the semiconductors that power Microsoft Corp's Xbox video-game player, is the world's biggest maker of chips that create computer graphics.