Backed by foreign investors' heavy buying, shares soared 2.13 percent to a fresh seven-year high yesterday, with the TAIEX rising 182.24 points to 8,755.88.
The benchmark index has risen 11.9 percent this year, compared with a 9.8 gain of the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index.
"The jump yesterday was driven by soaring financial stocks, robust international markets during the past two days and stunning foreign net purchasing," Clive Hsueh (
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
The financial sub-index gained by 4.38 percent yesterday, with stocks such as Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (
Foreign institutional investors bought a record net of NT$42.93 billion (US$1.3 billion) yesterday, mainly of financial stocks including Fuhwa Financial Holding Co (
The Taipei market resumed trading yesterday following a two-day holiday, as the nation celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival, during which markets elsewhere in the region surged.
Yesterday's net purchases by foreign investors were the highest ever, if a stock transfer between Royal Philips Electronics NV and its local unit on Dec. 28, 2005 is excluded, according to tallies provided by the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The exchange's turnover yesterday reached NT$199.51 billion, with 671 shares gainers, 537 decliners and 155 unchanged.
Hsueh, however, said he was conservative about the market outlook for the rest of the month following the recent surges.
"Big foreign net buying is not necessarily good news, as it means people are offloading shares to them," Hsueh said. "Investors should start to take profits amid this bullish market."
Holding a similar view, Mega International Investment Services (
The index may pull back to consolidate for the next three to five weeks after breaking 8,700 points, Mega International said in a report released yesterday. But TAIEX should be around 8,400 this week and is expected to fluctuate between 8,250 and 8,700 by the end of next month, it said.
Strong foreign buying momentum should subside next month, when summer vacation starts, the research note said, adding that rising impetus of high-tech and financial stocks could soften after the recent surges.
Short-term investment picks include Coretronic Corp (
Shin Kong Financial and Fuhwa Financial closed up nearly 7 percent at NT$37.90 and NT$19.05, respectively, while Coretronic lost 0.87 percent to NT$57.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last