Share prices closed sharply higher yesterday, up 2.23 percent, as investors cheered a rally on Wall Street and better-than-expected US retail sales, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 186.13 points at 8,528.33 after moving in the range of 8,407.34 and 8,534.27 on turnover of NT$104.64 billion (US$3.24 billion).
Risers led decliners 1,146 to 877, with 419 stocks unchanged. Eight stocks closed limit-up, while 34 were limit-down.
The cement sector was up 3.57 percent, the steel sector rallied 3.02 percent, petrochemicals rose 2.98 percent, the electronics sector gained 2.16 percent and the financial sector rose 1.78 percent.
"New York's strong showing Friday convinced investors here to follow suit," said Frank Lin, a senior vice president with Fubon Securities (
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 181.84 points, or 1.42 percent, on Friday as consumers in the US rushed to post-Thanksgiving sales at major retailers.
There were fears that US housing and credit market troubles would hit shoppers there.
"Investors welcomed favorable retailing data in the US, a key destination for Taiwan's technology/consumer devices," Lin said.
Technical factors also underpinned the market's rebound after earlier slumps, he said.
"The market had declined drastically previously; it was more than natural for a technical recovery," he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電) closed up NT$1.50 at NT$61.10 and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) was up NT$0.25 at NT$19.95. Teco Electric and Machinery (
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