A strong showing for the local bourse during the Year of the Horse — which started on Jan. 31 last year — allowed equity investors to earn more than NT$400,000 (US$12,700) on average, according to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
The weighted index yesterday, the last trading session of the lunar year, closed at 9,529.51 a rise of 1,066.94 points or 12.6 percent. Trading is set to resume on Feb. 24 in the Year of the Sheep.
Solid gains over the Year of the Horse pushed up the main board market capitalization by NT$3.85 trillion. Based on the 9.43 million equity trading accounts in the equity market, investors were estimated to have posted about NT$408,400 from their equity investments.
Based on the nation’s population of 23 million, wealth per capita increased some NT$167,500 on average through the gains in local shares.
ELECTRONICS SECTOR
The electronics sector scored the highest gains among the eight major sectors in the market, with the sub-index up 23.44 percent, market analysts said.
Among high-tech stocks, smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) gained 132 percent.
The stock yesterday closed at NT$2,705, up from NT$1,165 on Jan. 27 last year, the last trading session before the start of the Year of the Horse.
MOST EXPENSIVE STOCK
Largan is the most expensive stock on the local market.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the market, rose more than 41 percent during the year to close at NT$148.50 yesterday, on the back of its strong bottom line resulting from solid demand for chips made on its high-end 28 nanometer (nm) and 20nm processes.
Over the whole of last year, TSMC raked in NT$10.18 in earnings per share, compared with NT$7.26 a year earlier.
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