Stocks ended slightly higher yesterday on bargain hunting, with construction stocks leading gains on improving property demand, analysts said.
The TAIEX added 4.2, or 0.1 percent, to 6,879.11, with a turnover of NT$129.49 billion (US$3.88 billion). The index dropped as much as 1 percent in intra-day trading. About the same number of stocks rose as fell. Taiex futures for March delivery shed 0.1 percent to 6,922.
Construction stocks surged 4.2 percent overall, outpacing all other sectors.
Alan Tseng, an analyst at Capital Securities Corp (群益證券), said the bourse was able to recoup early losses because investors sought bargains as the key index approached the short-term support level of 6,800 points.
Shares of Kuoyang Construction Co (
Steel makers also benefited from the rise in property demand. Yieh Loong Steel Co (燁隆) climbed 2.8 percent to NT$18.4, while Chia I Industrial Co (嘉益) surged 6.4 percent. But China Steel Corp (中鋼) fell 0.3 percent to NT$34.10.
Computer-memory chipmakers saw their shares boosted by stabilizing dynamic random access memory prices, analysts said.
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation's largest computer memory-chipmaker, climbed 4.8 percent to NT$26.20, and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) rose 2.2 percent to NT$18.50.
Rival Mosel Vitelic Inc (
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
AI-FUELED DEMAND: The company has been benefiting from the skyrocketing prices for DRAM chips amid the AI frenzy, especially its core product — DDR4 DRAM chips DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported that its revenue for the first quarter surged 582.91 percent to NT$49.09 billion (US$1.54 billion) from NT$7.19 billion a year earlier, as the supply crunch caused chip price spikes. Last quarter’s figure is the highest on record. On a quarterly basis, revenue jumped 63.14 percent from NT$30.09 billion, the company said. In January, Nanya Technology expected global DRAM supply scarcity to continue through the first half of 2028, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast prices of standard DRAM chips would rise between 58 percent and 63
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