Taiwanese shares closed up 1.9 percent yesterday, tracking a strong Wall Street rebound fueled by troubled banking giant Citigroup’s upbeat outlook, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 88.94 points to 4,759.96 on expanded turnover of NT$111.9 billion (US$3.25 billion).
Gainers outnumbered losers 1,128 to 662, while 154 shares remained unchanged.
A total of 61 stocks rose to their 7 percent daily limit, against 13 limit-down.
“The market apparently got a boost from Wall Street’s overnight rally,” said Chen Yu-yu (陳育娛) of Capital Securities.
Rotational play featured in the rally as investors turned to traditional shares led by plastics and financials, he said.
Plastics surged 6.32 percent, while financials, which had become the top selling targets of foreign investors over the past few weeks due to their bleak outlook, rose 4.22 percent.
US banking giant Citigroup said it would swing to profitability early this year after punishing losses last year.
The electronics sector edged up 0.79 percent as investors cashed out, and trading in the sector fell to 64.75 percent of the total volume, down from a recent peak of 70 percent.
Formosa Plastics surged 6.68 percent at 52.7, Cathay Financial Holding rose 5.54 percent at 25.7, and Taiwan Cement finished up 1.12 percent at 27.2.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s biggest contract microchip maker, rose 3.3 percent to 48.7.
Rival United Microelectronics Corp added 4 percent to 9.52.
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