Share prices closed 1.49 percent higher yesterday, tracking Wall Street's gains after US jobs data showed that an economic slowdown might not arise or be as severe as some have expected, dealers said.
The bellwether tech sector was firmer on expectations of improved corporate earnings in the current quarter as the industry gears up for its traditionally strong performance in the run-up to the Christmas shopping season, they said.
The weighted index rose 99.32 points 6,750.78, off a high of 6,761.65, on turnover of NT$91.44 billion (US$2.70 billion).
"Investors, apparently, were convinced by Wall Street's rally, with the buying spree bolstered by various industry leads while political concerns eased," said Frank Lin, senior vice president at Fubon Securities (
The NT dollar's gains against the US dollar also helped lift sentiment further, dealers said.
"Given the appreciation of the local currency, foreign investors also lent support to the local bourse, and technology stocks in particular attracted interest," Lin said.
He said even laggard stocks from last week picked up pace as technical factors led investors to increase their portfolios.
Companies that are drawing a rosy picture for the current quarter or the last quarter rose sharply on expectations of increasing demand, Lin noted.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) closed up NT$11 at NT$327, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) rose NT$9.50 to NT$200.50.
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],”
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
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