Last-minute buying ahead of Computex boosts share prices

Shares ended slightly higher yesterday on last-minute buying in electronic stocks ahead of the Computex computer show.

The nation's expected upgrade to full weight in Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc's (MCSI) global indexes after the market closes today also contributed to the late rise, traders said.

The TAIEX gained 17.97 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,009.52. The closing level marked the highest since April 8, when the index stood at 6,024.07. Turnover was US$57.52 billion (US$1.84 billion).

Electronic shares gained 0.5 percent as a whole, boosted by the start of Computex in Taipei today.

Shares in chip designer VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子) jumped 6.8 percent to NT$19.75 and Silicon Integrated Systems Corp (矽統) rose 1.8 percent to NT$17.1.

VIA Technologies is introducing chips that it says perform on a par with the mid-range models in Intel's Pentium M line, the microprocessors at the core of the chip giant's popular Centrino technology for laptops.

The imminent upgrade to Taiwan's weighting in MSCI's indexes lent the market some additional support late in the session.

"Passive-fund managers who benchmark their portfolios to the MSCI indexes typically jump in during the last minutes of trade, and this may happen again tomorrow," Ta Ching Securities Co (大慶證券) trader Daniel Liu said.

Shares in Compeq Manufacturing Co (華通) jumped 6.6 percent to NT$10.45, as the manufacturer of printed circuit boards is planning to sell its loss-making chip-testing and packaging business, said Richard Tsai, a senior vice president at Grand Cathay Securities Co (大華證券).