Shares ended higher for a third straight session yesterday, as the main index returned to levels last recorded before the disputed March 20 election.
Investors bought select technology stocks with solid fundamentals, helping the TAIEX to close up 85.85 points, or 1.3 percent, to 6,880.18. It was the index's highest closing since March 9, when it ended at 6,973.90.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 480 to 346 with 149 stocks unchanged in trading valued at NT$181.15 billion (US$5.5 billion), compared with NT$184.31 billion on Tuesday.
"Whenever there are dips, buying is strong and funds are focusing on electronics shares," said Chiang Cheng-hsun, a deputy manager at MasterLink Securities Consulting.
Flat-panel-display makers did well, reflecting solid panel prices. Earlier this week, ABN Amro said in a report that panel prices are expected to be steady this month, compared with the firm's original expectations of slight falls.
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation's largest flat-panel maker, rose 6.6 percent to NT$73. The second-largest maker of flat panels, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), gained 6.3 percent to NT$76.
Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技), a passive component maker, rallied by almost the daily 7 percent limit to NT$34.70 on hopes product prices might rise later this year amid a recovery in the technology sector. Passive components are essential for use in electronic products.
Also helping sentiment was the view the political scene should remain relatively calm before the middle of next month, when a vote recount is expected for the presidential election.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained