The TAIEX rose 25.26 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at a 27-year high of 10,349.72 yesterday, despite a pullback in most global equity markets after overnight losses on Wall Street, dealers said.
The index opened down 13.94 points on a mild technical correction as selling emerged, focusing on large-cap stocks in the electronics sector, such as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海).
However, bargain hunters entered the market in the middle of the morning, picking up old-economy, and small and medium cap stocks, which helped the market move into positive territory and close at a 27-year high after moving between 10,274.75 and 10,379.82 on turnover of NT$108.634 billion (US$3.57 billion).
Electronics edged up 0.07 percent, while financials ended 0.09 percent lower, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
TSMC and Hon Hai ended their two-day winning streaks, with TSMC falling 0.46 percent to NT$215.5 and Hon Hai dropping 1.31 percent to NT$113.
Among the strongest performers in the electronics sector, passive component manufacturer Yageo Corp (國巨) gained 9.85 percent to end at NT$111.5, while its affiliate, Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新), rose 2.03 percent to NT$85.5.
Other optoelectronic stocks, including smartphone camera lens supplier Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光), computer component maker Taiwan Union Technology Corp (台燿) and Asia Optical Co (亞光) also closed higher.
Taishin Securities Investment Trust Co (台新投信) fund manager Wei Yung-hsiang (魏永祥) said selling pressure could intensify following the rally and as foreign investors’ buying momentum slows.
Foreign capital inflow will remain a major factor in determining the market’s direction, Wei said.
Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$2.459 billion of shares on the main board yesterday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
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Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been