The stock market surged 1.92 percent to close at 7,603.23 yesterday, as investors’ confidence was boosted by news that Greece would scrap a proposed referendum, which has since been confirmed, over an EU bailout fund, raising fresh hopes that the European debt crisis could ease.
The European Central Bank’s (ECB) unexpected move to cut key interest rates by 25 basis points to shore up the eurozone’s economy also helped lift share prices.
Turnover rose to NT$110.49 billion (US$3.68 billion) from NT$106.03 billion on Thursday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
“The TAIEX followed yesterday’s [Thursday] global stock markets’ rebound, mainly due to relief over Greece’s decision to call off a referendum, as well as the ECB’s move to cut its key interest rates,” said Chang Shu-hui (張淑蕙), a fund manager at Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise Co (保德信投信), in an investment note.
Foreign investors bought a net total of NT$4.9 billion in shares, giving the New Taiwan dollar a boost. The local currency rose NT$0.195 to close at NT$30.025 against the US dollar yesterday, central bank data showed.
The electronics sub-index rose 1.71 percent, led by LED and LCD panel makers on news that the Chinese government might forbid the use of incandescent light bulbs.
Shares of Epistar Corp (晶電), the nation’s largest LED chipmaker, rallied 6.93 percent to NT$64.80.
Meanwhile, shares of the nation’s two biggest LCD panel manufacturers, Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), soared 6.64 percent and 6.79 percent to NT$13.65 and NT$14.95 respectively, with both hitting their highest levels in about three months.
The auto sub-index surged 3.47 percent, while the financial sub-index increased 2.61 percent, according to stock exchange data.
Chang expected the local stock market to regain momentum in the near future, as the TAIEX has lagged behind most Asian stock markets’ recent rebound.
However, lingering concern over the eurozone debt crisis remains a major risk for the stock market, Chang said, adding that these uncertainties could lead to volatile trading in the short term.
Eric Li (李俊毅), a fund manager at Allianz Global Investors Taiwan Ltd (德盛安聯投信), shared Chang’s view.
“There are still a lot of details to be clarified and confirmed about the eurozone’s debt problem and Greece’s referendum issue,” Li said in an investment note.
Li expected makers of lower-priced electronics products — such as middle to low-end smartphones and LED TVs — to lead the index’s rise in the near term, saying these products usually have stronger growth momentum than higher-priced products in a slowing economy.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is