Stocks had its biggest gain in almost six weeks. Companies with factories in China, such as Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and BenQ Corp (明基電通), gained after the World Health Organization lifted its travel warning against Hong Kong and Chin's Guangdong Province.
The TAIEX rose 116.05, or 2.7 percent, to 4,465.57, its biggest one-day percentage gain since April 16. Only 22 stocks on the 608-member index declined.
The value of trade was NT$68.8 billion (US$2 billion), 47 percent more than the daily average in the past three months.
The Taiwan Futures Index jumped 5 percent to 4,444.
"The sentiment is that SARS is coming under control," said Aries Chou, who helps manage the equivalent of US$230 million in equities at Shinkong Investment Trust Co (
"Keeping away doesn't mean the demand for computers, handsets, digital cameras and other electronics goods has disappeared," he said.
Chou likes computer-related stocks such as Asustek Computer (華碩電腦) and Quanta Computer.
Quanta Computer, the nation's largest notebook-computer maker, rose NT$1.50, or 2.3 percent, to NT$67. The company expects sales to rise as much as 50 percent this year, a local newspaper reported, citing no one.
BenQ, the nation's largest mobile-phone maker, added NT$1.20, or 3.2 percent, to NT$38.80.
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) rose NT$1.80, or 3.9 percent, to NT$48.40. It will spend NT$124.6 billion to expand its naphtha cracker complex at Mailiao later this year, group vice chairman Wang Yung-tsai (王永在) told reporters in Taipei after a meeting with Premier Yu Shyi-kun.
Nanya Technology Corp (
Prices of the most widely used computer-memory chips jumped 2.9 percent, the biggest gain in three weeks, boosted by the debut of Intel Corp's latest computer chip.
The spot price of the 256-megabit, 266-megahertz, double-data rate chip -- Nanya's main product -- climbed US$0.09 to US$3.15 on Friday, according to Taiwan-based DRAMeXchange.com, the operator of an online marketplace for semiconductors.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is