TAIEX hits 14-week high as US shopping starts

The TAIEX rose to a 14-week high after a report showed a pickup in US retail sales at the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Exporters such as MediaTek Inc(聯發科技) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) gained.

Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海精密), Taiwan's largest electronics exporter by sales, also climbed after a report said its unit Foxconn International Holdings Ltd (富士康) may win a contract to design and make mobile phones for Nokia Oyj.

"The report is a strong indicator that US consumer spending won't cool, and that should be good for Asian exporters' holiday sales," said Mike Shiao (蕭光一), a fund manager at Invesco Taiwan Ltd (景順投信), which manages US$1.3 billion in assets.

"Consumer electronics stocks should benefit," Shiao said.

The TAIEX rose 75.64 points, or 1.2 percent, to 6203.84 at the 1:30pm close in Taipei yesterday, the highest since Aug. 22. More than three stocks gained for every one that declined.

Hon Hai rose NT$1.50, or 0.9 percent, to NT$167.00. Nokia, the world's largest mobile-phone supplier, may place new orders with Foxconn to design and make handsets, local media reported on Saturday, citing Colin Giles, senior vice president of customer and market operations for Nokia China.

Taiwan Semiconductor Man-ufacturing Co (台積電), which is the world's largest supplier of made-to-order computer chips and gets about three-quarters of its sales from North America, climbed NT$0.40, or 0.7 percent, to NT$59.50. MediaTek (聯發科技), the world's largest maker of chips for DVD players, gained NT$17.00, or 5 percent, to NT$355.00.