Taiwan’s biotechnology stocks surged the most in two months on speculation president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will increase funding in the industry to bolster an economy that is estimated to have grown last year at its slowest pace since at least 2009.
A gauge of biotechnology and medical-care firms on the TAIEX jumped 3.1 percent at noon, the biggest gain among 28 industries.
The TAIEX added 0.1 percent as the rally in healthcare overshadowed losses for financial companies. Johnson Health Tech Co (喬山) and Phytohealth Corp (懷特生技) soared more than 7 percent.
Tsai, who won Saturday’s presidential election in a surprise landslide for the Democratic Progressive Party, said last month that she would boost Taiwan’s economy by focusing on five industries — biotechnology, green technology, smart machinery, Internet of Things and national defense.
In November last year, she named a researcher in epidemiology and genomics, Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), as her running mate.
“People will watch biotech stocks as the sector is the new president’s focus industry,” said Peter Tzeng (曾耀德), senior vice president at IBTS Investment Consulting Co (台灣工銀投顧) in Taipei.
Buoyed by Taiwan’s well-educated workforce and access to China’s huge market, Taiwan’s biotechnology sector has been a bright spot in the economy. The sub-index has gained 3.5 percent over the past three months, the best among the groups, while the TAIEX slumped 9.7 percent.
“We are adding biotech stocks as it’s favored by the DPP,” Vincent Yang (楊金峰), whose Franklin Templeton SinoAm Conventional Industry Fund has beaten 98 percent of its peers past year, said in an interview last week. “The aging population trend is favorable to the sector too.”
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