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.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”