Shares surged to a fresh two-year high yesterday on rising hopes for an easing of tensions with China.
The TAIEX rose 96.8 points, or 1.4 percent, to 6,952.54. The stock index gained 2.5 percent for the week.
Turnover was NT$118.80 billion (US$3.66 billion) yesterday. For the whole week, the average daily turnover stood at NT$107.33 billion, following an average NT$109.44 billion last week.
Yesterday's closing figure was the highest since March 9, 2004, when the index reached 6,973.9.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and several business leaders were in Beijing yesterday to attend a seminar about trade and tourism links, which might result in new initiatives to promote economic relations between the two sides. Lien is also scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) tomorrow.
Tourism and construction companies posted rises. Hotel Holiday Garden (
Shares are expected to consolidate next week as the bourse is reaching a technical barrier of around 7,000 points, dealers said.
Rising concerns over inflationary pressure amid higher crude oil prices will erode purchasing power, while many investors will become cautious as local industries enter their result reporting season this month, they said.
However, heavy losses are unlikely as the market remains full of liquidity as foreign investors keep pumping capital into Taiwan trying to take advantage of relatively cheap local stocks compared with their regional counterparts, they said.
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